Bishop

by Gabelman, Teresa

  Bishop also wondered that exact thing, but quickly realized the truth. “Because you were an asset to him, and you did his bidding, or so he thought.”

  “He’s right.” Ryker nodded. “You asked no questions.”

  “Makes me sound heartless.” Bonnie sounded defeated, something Bishop wasn’t used to hearing in her voice. “But I didn’t know. Or maybe I did in a way but refused to address it until I found a way to kill the bastard. My fear of being found out and losing that chance trumped everything else.”

  “No, not heartless. You were very smart, Bonnie,” Ryker replied, his eyes narrowing. “He thought you were a dark witch. Well played, by the way. That isn’t easy to pull off, especially with dark witches all around you. If you had asked questions or snooped around, I seriously doubt you’d be here today, and there would be one less Grail female. You did what you could in order to stop his madness.”

  “I didn’t do enough.” Bonnie’s voice was very low. Bishop heard her whispered words. The regret in her voice ate at him. “How did you escape and why did you come back?”

  “A witch who Orjyll trusted turned on him. She let some of us go. At least the ones of us who weren’t totally gone.” Ryker’s tone turned grim. “Being turned, then starved, I was on the verge of bloodlust.”

  “And that’s where I come in.” Sid stood, moved toward Ryker, and stood by his side. “I found this asshole stalking a man. When I confronted him, he begged me to kill him. Said he would kill if I didn’t. He didn’t try to fight. He just knelt on the ground and begged for death so the bloodlust would stop.”

  Something shifted within Bishop as he stared at Ryker. Each of them in this room had been on the verge of bloodlust, and none of them forgot that feeling. Usually, it was from being newly changed, and that was nothing compared to being starved of blood. Newly changed vampires were given small amounts of blood, which increased over time. Being starved of it was a totally different situation. And for someone in the midst of bloodlust to stop themselves and ask to die said something about that individual.

  “I knew without a doubt there was something different about Ryker, so I took him into my care. Soon after, I realized he would make a great Warrior and took him into the unit I was in at the time,” Sid replied, his eyes finding Bishop and then Bonnie. “I would trust him with my life. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t be here.”

  “You went back for revenge,” Bonnie said, and Bishop knew she answered her own question from earlier that Ryker hadn’t.

  “For over five years I honed my skills, set a course that only I knew about to take him down. I learned about your mother and knew it was the right time for me to strike.” Ryker hissed in anger. “And he was ready for me. I underestimated him and the people he surrounds himself with. Even after my training as a Warrior, I underestimated him and almost paid the price. After using my magic to change my looks—”

  “Wait a minute.” Jared spoke up. “You said your powers were stripped.”

  “They were for many years, but once Emilia Grail put a binding spell on the bastard, I regained them.” Ryker then looked down at Bonnie. “Your mother was a hero to many. She didn’t die in vain, Bonnie.”

  “Yes, she was,” Bonnie agreed, shifting from one foot to the other. Bishop knew she was trying her best to control her emotions, but he felt her turmoil and hated it for her.

  “As I was saying, even after disguising myself, Orjyll knew my plans, had known my plans and was waiting for me. To even think this is an easy mission is a deadly mistake. In my mind, everything I had planned out was foolproof. I was wrong. And if it wasn’t for Bonnie, I would have paid the price of believing I could take down Orjyll alone.” Ryker’s mood shifted as anger and rage rang through his voice. “I can never repay you for what you did for me that day.”

  “I couldn’t just stand there and watch what happened to you, happen.” Bonnie’s voice was strong. “Orjyll didn’t realize that I was much slyer than the idiots he sent to kill you. I thought I’d failed. I didn’t realize you’d actually escaped.”

  “Barely escaped,” Ryker hissed, then glanced at Bishop. “I was punished by fire. Everyone in this room understands fire to a witch is a death none wish ever to face.”

  “I couldn’t just stand there and watch it happen. I tried to transport him, but I thought I’d waited too long.” Bonnie shook her head as if trying to shake the memory from it. “I watched you burn.”

  “Because of your magic, which I felt, I used mine—together with yours—and transported, leaving the impression I was still there.” Ryker took a step toward her, and Bishop allowed it. “Without that moment of you trying to save me, I would have died. I owe you my life.”

  Clearly uncomfortable, Bonnie looked away from Ryker but nodded. “I’ve done a lot of shady stuff in my life, but watching someone burn to death is something I couldn’t do, even if it meant being caught.”

  “Well, thank you for taking that chance. Because your fate would have been much worse than mine,” Ryker said, then looked around the room. “Don’t take my word for any of this, ask Bonnie. Orjyll is a force not many have seen. Without his powers, he is still a force, so if he ever regains those powers, there will be no stopping him. People are going to die. Innocent people.”

  This time it was Bonnie’s turn to look around the room. “I have repeatedly said how dangerous my piece-of-shit father is. Even without full power, he is more dangerous than anything walking this earth.” Bonnie’s eyes stopped at Bishop. “There’s a lot to think about because this needs to end before it’s too late. No matter the price, it has to end. If that price is too high for you, then you need to walk away.”

  “Magic, even bound by a curse, is a fickle beast,” Ryker added. “Pain and time can weaken magic. Even a binding spell cannot completely stand the test of time. How much has Emilia’s spell weakened? No one knows other than Orjyll and that, my brothers, makes him dangerous and someone to fear.”

  “You afraid?” Jared asked Sid with a don’t-give-a-shit attitude.

  “Not even close,” Sid announced, cracking his neck back and forth.

  “You have a human mate.” Ryker looked toward Sid. It wasn’t a question. “Then you should be terrified.”

  Bishop saw Bonnie shiver before she tried to hide it. He shared a look with Viktor, and then his gaze went to Ryker. “It seems that you and Bonnie are the only ones in this room who has had a close relationship with the bastard,” Bishop said, not liking the fact they needed this guy, but smart enough to know they did. “Whatever information you can supply is welcomed.”

  “Is that the only ‘I’m sorry for being a dick’ I’m going to get?” Ryker asked with a smug grin.

  “If you think that’s what that was, then you’re mistaken.” Bishop snorted with a shake of his head. “I still don’t fully trust you, but so far, by Adam’s account—who I do trust—you’re telling the truth. And I never apologize.”

  “Ain’t that the fucking truth.” Viktor finally moved away with a snort. “Take my word for it when I say you’ll be waiting for eternity if you think you’ll be getting an apology from his stubborn ass.”

  Bishop and Ryker continued to stare at each other until Ryker finally looked at Sloan, who began talking to him. His main concern was keeping Bonnie safe, and he didn’t care who was pissed off in the process. If this guy thought Bishop was going to apologize for that, he was going to be very disappointed.

  Chapter 15

  Bonnie had felt numb as she listened to Ryker’s account of what he’d endured under her father’s apprenticeship. Was she shocked? No, not one bit. Her eyes gazed around the room as everyone now talked in groups. A few looked her way. Her gaze met Mira’s and then Kira’s before she quickly looked away. Her piece-of-shit father was the reason these good people were being affected. Her mother even had a hand in it if she was being totally honest.

  A feeling of sadness overwhelmed her. It wasn’t fair. This was her cross to bear, but these people had been dragged
into a war that was ready to explode into something this world had never seen unless someone stopped it. She had to be the one. There was no question about it. It had to be her. For most of her life, she feared becoming her father. She had a feeling the evilness was going to have to win in order for her to do what had to be done.

  She wasn’t naïve enough to think this was all about her. It wasn’t. Not at all. But as of right now, she, Bonnie Grail, was Orjyll’s number one enemy. He knew it and she knew it. Seeing Ryker staring at her, she realized he knew it also.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Ryker said as if reading her mind. “You are just an obstacle in the grand scheme of things.”

  Bonnie snorted. “Story of my life,” she said—her favorite saying. “And blame? I know where it goes.”

  “Do you?” Ryker cocked his eyebrow at her. “Do you really, Bonnie?”

  “Don’t patronize me, Ryker.” Bonnie’s attitude kicked in, and she didn’t realize her voice had raised quite loudly. “I know more than anyone who is to blame. I also know how demented and ruthless one has to be even to understand the lengths Orjyll will go to get what he wants. I know the evilness it’s going to take to bring him down. Kira doesn’t. That’s why it has to be me.”

  Realizing the room had become silent, she shrugged, even when Bishop growled his displeasure at her words. The sooner they understood she was doing this, the better for everyone involved.

  “What do you mean?” Kira, who hadn’t been in the room during her announcement earlier, looked confused.

  “You’re going to transfer my mother’s power back to me,” Bonnie informed her without hesitation.

  “No.” Kira shook her head. “I’m not.”

  Bonnie hadn’t really wanted to approach Kira this way, but it seemed everything related to her father turned out to be a shitshow. No reason for this to be any different.

  “Then I suggest you spend as much time with your loved ones, because we will lose,” Bonnie said as bluntly as she could.

  “That’s not fair,” Mira said, standing up for her sister. “Kira is powerful in her own right. She can do this.”

  Even with Mira saying those words of support for her sister, Bonnie, along with everyone else, saw the fear in her eyes. “You’re right. She is very powerful, but power is not what it’s going to take. Knowledge is the key.”

  “And that’s what I’ve been working on.” Kira replied in frustration.

  “Knowledge of how Orjyll thinks, works, acts, eats, sleeps as well as what makes him tick, what buttons to push and when,” Bonnie added without missing a beat. “Who to throw under the bus in order to get a step ahead… that is something you could never do, not believably anyway.”

  The room was silent as they all looked at her. Yeah, she hated the spotlight, despised it actually, but she knew it was where she needed to be. The sooner everyone in this room figured out she was right, the quicker this would be over, either way.

  “I used Drew to get you to use not even a third of the power you possess.” Bonnie knew she needed to make a point, so she went for it. “Half of me meant that threat, but the other half of me would go to my grave before ever harming a hair on that girl’s head. I’m not all good like you and Mira. I never will be. It is a continuous fight to stay in the light when at the edges, darkness is always calling to me. You know what I say is true. I was formed in the womb of a white witch by the seed planted from a dark warlock. My fate was sealed that day. It’s up to me and me alone to fight every single day on which fate will win—light or dark. My fight may be over sooner than I think because no white witch can ever defeat my father. And if you think otherwise, then we all need to bow down to him right now and concede. You know I speak the truth.”

  “But you could die,” Mira said. Her eyes filled with tears. “No, you can’t do this.”

  “Not only that.” Kira stepped up until she was in front of Bonnie. “He’s your father. Whatever you do unto him will come back at you threefold. If you survive the transfer to defeat him, you will die.”

  “And it will be worse than anything you do to him,” Mira whispered loudly, her voice shaking with tears. “You can’t do this, Bonnie. Kira is the only way.”

  Bonnie’s gaze didn’t leave Kira, and she saw the depth of understanding in the woman’s eyes. Kira knew that Bonnie spoke the truth. Bonnie was the only one who could defeat Orjyll with her mother’s powers.

  “When?” Kira finally said as she straightened her shoulders.

  “Kira!” Mira cried out. “No! She can’t do this.”

  “No!” Bishop’s voice broke over Bonnie, but she ignored him. This was not his decision.

  “As soon as possible,” Bonnie replied, then glanced at Ryker. “I don’t want Orjyll to even get a hint of this, and I need time to prepare. Tomorrow isn’t soon enough, but I’m not in the right frame of mind to do it now.”

  Kira nodded, then turned and walked out of Sloan’s office with Ronan following. Mira rushed up to Bonnie and grabbed her in a hug while Steve held Drew.

  “Please, Bonnie,” Mira whispered in her hair. “Rethink this. There has to be another way.”

  “We both know there isn’t,” Bonnie whispered back and hugged her close. “It has to be me. I think it’s always had to be me, but my mother being my mother, refused to see it, so she transferred her power to Kira, hoping it would be enough. It’s not.”

  Mira pulled away, her eyes overflowing with tears. Putting her hand over her mouth, she rushed back to Steve, who pulled her close to his side.

  Bonnie could sense Bishop pulsing with anger beside her, felt his stare, and yet she ignored him. She didn’t have the energy to battle him. Her emotions were too raw and open. She needed to seal the cracks in her tough exterior before tomorrow, and dealing with Bishop was not in her best interest, nor was it in his.

  “Not that I need your permission,” Bonnie said toward Sloan, “but I’d like to have the support of the Warriors.”

  Sloan ran his hand down his face, not answering her. His golden eyes looked behind her, and she knew he was looking at Bishop.

  “This is my decision and mine alone. It will happen with or without you, but backup would be much appreciated.” Bonnie hoped she sounded stronger and more confident than she actually felt. In truth, she was scared to death—not that she feared death. She never had, but since discovering her connection with Bishop, she realized she’d never experienced real life. Nothing but revenge had filled her soul, and then Bishop had shown up. Her soul now sought something more than revenge, and it made her fear more real. If she failed, she failed him and those around her who she had begun to care about.

  “I want to know everything, every single step that is taken, and I demand Bishop and Viktor to be involved.” Sloan looked back at her. “The Warriors are and have been in this fight. We aren’t going anywhere and will assist in any way you need us to.”

  Bonnie nodded, then gave Sloan a half-grin. “Those words were hard for you to spit out, weren’t they?”

  “You have no fucking idea,” Sloan hissed, not looking happy at all for having to follow her lead.

  “You do vampires,” Bonnie said, digging deep for the smartass in her. “I do evil, piece-of-shit, saggy-ass, dipshit warlocks. Stay in your lane and I’ll stay in mine.”

  She was surprised to see a grin start to tip his lips before it was gone. “Get the fuck out of my office,” Sloan growled at her, but before he turned back to his desk, he stopped and looked straight at her. “And don’t die tomorrow.”

  “Gonna miss me?” Bonnie did grin up at him.

  “No. The paperwork is a bitch.” Sloan actually gave her a wink, making her chuckle. She turned and almost ran straight into Bishop, who was glowering first at Sloan and then down at her.

  “I don’t find this funny.” Bishop’s sneer actually looked very sexy on him. “And I didn’t agree to it.”

  “That’s a shame on both counts because I was really hoping you’d have my back as I would have
yours.” Bonnie then patted him on his chest. “And actually, the paperwork remark was pretty funny coming from Sloan.”

  She moved past him, and he let her, which was for the best. She wasn’t going to change her mind. It was a done deal. She glanced at Raven, who gave her a nod, then she walked out of the office. Heavy footsteps followed her, but she didn’t stop until a large hand gripped her arm and turned her.

  “I can’t let you do this, Bonnie.” Bishop shook his head. Turmoil swirled in his darkening eyes. “As a Warrior, I can’t stand by and watch you put yourself in danger.”

  “And as a man, Bishop?” Bonnie cocked her head. “What does the man think?”

  “They are one and the same,” Bishop shot back, but he didn’t sound so sure.

  “No, they’re not.” She shook her head but gave him a small smile. “But it’s okay. Neither the Warrior or the man can change what fate has planned for me. Do you remember asking me a few short hours ago why the aversion spell? Well, this is why. Sloan would never have agreed so willingly to give me the go-ahead for what I’m about to do, no one in that room fought to stop me, not even you. So no, I will not release the spell I’ve put on myself. It’s easier this way. Believe me, Bishop, I don’t want to die, but if that is what the Goddess has decided for me, then there’s nothing that’s going to stop it from happening. I will defeat my father, but at least this way, no one will suffer for what I’ve decided to do.”

  “Bullshit.” Bishop leaned close to her, so they were nose to nose.

  “Is it?” Bonnie asked as she leaned away to really see into his eyes. “My life for the lives of millions? I don’t think that is bullshit, Bishop, and if you dig deep into yourself, I think you’d agree. This is the Warrior talking, not the man. Forget me and find someone who is much better for you than I could ever be. I’m rotten to the core, and I really don’t want you to see that side of me.”