“Lachlan,” I moaned again, rocking against him faster and faster.
“Valor,” he growled, meeting my pace with thrusts of his own, hitting those deep places inside me that made me see stars.
Emotion swelled and stormed me, threatened to bring tears to my eyes as we crashed together again and again.
Each thrust, each roll of my hips brought me closer…
I folded myself over him, my sensitive breasts against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight as I moved on him slow and hard. And I turned my head, exposing my neck to him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and those tears filled my eyes. He always gave me a choice.
I nodded, unable to find a steady voice to answer him—
He sank his teeth into my flesh, and I came with the onslaught of pleasure that poured through me. Ecstasy rushed through my blood, filling his mouth as he sucked and tugged at the wounds he’d made. My body quivered around him as he sucked and thrust in unison, pounding into me so deliciously hard I almost forgot what I needed to do.
I continued to move with him, ensured he stayed at my neck, fully ensnared and distracted as I reached with my free hand over the side of the bed.
The ring of iron clinking against the bed railing sounded just as he came inside me, still sucking at my neck so hard I came right with him. Both of us falling over that edge so hard and fast he didn’t have a clue yet what I’d done.
He flicked his tongue over the wounds in my neck, helping to seal them. My head spun as I shifted atop him, drawing up enough to look down at him.
Lachlan reached for me, but his hands met resistance, and he tilted his head. His eyes flicked between me and the iron chains around his wrists, his brow furrowing. “Valor,” he whispered. “I’m all for chain games, but iron…you know what it does to my power.”
I let the tears fall down my cheeks, then hurried off of him. “Of course, I know what it does to you, Lachlan,” I said, trying to force steel into my voice. It didn’t work. I could barely hold back the desperation and agony storming me.
“Valor,” he growled, yanking against the chains.
I hurried into the clothes I’d hidden on the other side of his nightstand—a pair of black leather leggings, a long-sleeved black thermal. Clothes to hide me when night came in a few minutes—the assassins had planned or fought or strategized throughout the day about the upcoming rescue mission, and so had I. I slipped into a good pair of worn boots, and then shifted to face him.
Betrayal clung to his features, that and undiluted rage.
“You asked me if I understood,” I said, sucking in a sharp breath as I neared the bed. “Asked me if I could possibly fathom how hard it would be for you to have me in harm’s way.”
He visibly swallowed as I leaned over him. I settled my hand over his muscled chest, right over his heart.
“I do understand, Lachlan. Because I love you.” The confession left my lips on a long breath. “Not just because you’re my mate, either,” I continued. “I fell for you even when I hated you. Fell for your strength, your gentleness, your ability to understand me even when you hated me too. I fell for the Lachlan that made me laugh to keep me from succumbing to panic. I fell for the highlander who didn’t treat me like a piece of glass despite being human. I fell for you, Lachlan, over and over again. And being mates? That’s just a bonus.”
“Valor,” he groaned, yanking against those chains. Already I could see the iron doing its job, weakening him.
“I’m sorry,” I said, truly meaning it. I hated seeing him like this. Every instinct in me cried out to help, to protect, to save. “I know my brother better than you do,” I said. “And he’ll do anything to hurt me, make me suffer. Taking you, harming you…killing you…” I swallowed hard around the words. “That would ruin me. I wouldn’t survive it, Lachlan. But you? You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be. And I can’t…won’t lose you.” I leaned over him, crushing my mouth against his in a desperate kiss before jerking my head back. I spun on my heels, rushing out the door.
I closed it behind me, the breath tight in my lungs.
“Valor!” Lachlan screamed so loud I swore the foundation shook.
I closed my eyes against the pull in my heart to turn back around and set him free. He was safer this way, protected. I had designed that facility. Could hopefully find a way in. And I alone could face my brother, could get into his head and stop him. It had to be me.
I hurried through the hallways, navigating the paths I’d made sure to memorize—
“You didn’t honestly think we’d allow you do this alone, did you?” Olivia’s voice was part laughter, part threat as she appeared before me just as I’d made it to the residence’s back exit.
“No,” I said, shaking my head as Avianna appeared at her side. I immediately cast a glance around for Hawke—the terrifying vampire was never far from the princess.
“Lyric is distracting them,” Avianna answered my unvoiced question.
“Quite like you did with Lachlan,” Olivia said, smirking just a tad. “If his hollering is any indication.”
She could still hear him screaming? I clenched my eyes shut, pain lancing through my chest.
“I have to do this alone. I can’t risk—”
“We don’t really have time for the morality speech,” Olivia cut me off. “Lyric can only distract them for so long. I studied Ransom’s intel. I can wend us there. I’m faster than anyone in the Order. With your inside knowledge of the facility, and my speed? We can get Daphne out before anyone even sees us.”
I swallowed hard, knowing she spoke the truth. “But Avi…you’re royalty—”
“And I have been for centuries,” she cut me off. “I’m not without some powers of my own. I’m going with you.”
My heart swelled in my chest—these two females had taken me in immediately and now were prepared to face my biggest battle by my side. I tipped my chin up, glaring at them both. “If either of you get killed, I’ll never forgive you.”
Olivia snorted. “Speak for yourself, human,” she teased. “Think about what Lachlan will do if we bring you back with even a scratch.”
I shivered at the thought, but slipped my hand into Olivia’s outstretched one.
And as the cold ether of the in between snaked across my skin, I didn’t bother voicing the thought in my head.
That a scratch would be the least of our problems—not when my brother was out for buckets of blood.
My blood.
17
Lachlan
This was not fucking happening.
Except, it was.
Valor had used my hunger, my lust, my weakness for her to her tactical advantage. If I hadn’t been chained to my own bed with iron shackles, I might have been proud of her. Instead, I was fucking livid.
She loved me? Fine way to show it.
Wouldn’t you have done the same?
Sure, if I’d thought of it first. I should have locked her up and thrown away the damned key to get through tonight. Instead, I’d made love with her like it might have been the last time and let myself get utterly, thoroughly distracted by my mate.
The mate I couldn’t even feel.
Iron was a bitch. It blocked the bond. Blocked my powers. Drained my strength. Turned me into a useless lump of vampire flesh…and she’d known that.
“Fuck!” I shouted again, using what strength I had left to pull at the chains.
They didn’t budge. Any other metal, and I would have torn through the bedframe, pulverized it, but not iron. I was stuck here, growing weaker by the second. How long had Valor been gone? Seconds? Hours? My brain fogged over.
The Order would be waiting, the trainees and soldiers mobilized, strapping up before we met at the rendezvous point to join with Xavier’s forces. And where was their leader? Strapped to his bed.
“Can anyone hear me?” I bellowed. For the first time since the construction of the Residence, I cursed at the nearly soundproof walls. O
h, it was a great feature when I was deep inside Valor, fucking her so hard her screams of pleasure came with every thrust, but not so much in this scenario.
“Anyone?” I tried again, pulling on the chains, but this time they barely moved. We only kept iron to subdue a vampire in bloodlust, or one driven mad by Night Thistle. In both those cases, our supernatural strength required it, but I didn’t have either of those conditions to help me here.
“Fuck me—”
My phone dinged somewhere to my left. It was still in my jacket pocket from when I’d stripped out of my leathers. That stupid, automated program went off all of the…
That’s it.
“Hey, Siri,” I called out.
“Yes, Locklend—” the phone replied.
“Call Benedict on speaker,” I said as clearly as possible, hoping my accent wouldn’t throw the bot off. That male had held secrets for centuries.
“Calling Benedict.”
“Oh thank fuck,” I muttered as it rang.
“Where the hell are you? We’ve already broken our fast and—” His voice came through muffled.
“Come to my room. Now. Just you. Emergency break the lock. Now,” I growled.
“Oh shit,” he replied, and I heard the pounding sounds of his footsteps through the speakerphone. “Nothing! I’ll be right back!”
I sagged against the pillow, knowing that the harder I fought, the faster the iron would drain my strength. All I could do now was wait for Benedict to break through. I grimaced as I glanced down my body. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the male had seen me naked.
“I’m outside your door.” His voice came through the speaker. “It’s locked.”
“Emergency breakthrough!” I shouted.
The door clicked, and Benedict stumbled through, catching himself on the wall. “Damn, I was in the middle of trying to muscle it open.” He shook his head and then took in the scene. “Whoa. Okay.”
“You make one fucking joke, and I swear I’ll tear your bloody head off and leave you out to suntan.” I glared at him, but my eyes were having trouble focusing.
“Noted.” He took a blanket from the end of the bed and tossed it over my mid-section, covering me. “No one needs to see that.”
“Was that a joke?” My eyes narrowed.
“Never.” He examined the cuffs and swore under his breath. “Valor?”
“Who the fuck else would be in my chamber or close enough to chain me to the bed?” I snapped.
“Temper, temper,” he replied. “Did she tell you where the key is?” His brow furrowed in thought.
“You mean while she was cuffing me to my own bed?” I yanked at the chains.
“You make a good point. We’re going to need Hawke.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Absolutely not. Figure it out.”
“I’m just saying that male is into some kinky shit and might just know—”
“Absolutely. Not.” Hawke would never let me live this down.
“Okay, then.” Benedict shook his head and looked over the room, his gaze scanning every surface. “Right there.” He walked over to my dresser and plucked a key from the top of it. “Looks like your mate didn’t want you to suffer. She just wanted to delay you.”
“So she could get a head start,” I muttered, swallowing back my panic as the pieces clicked into place.
“Figured it was something like that.” Benedict unlocked one wrist, and the shackle fell away, tumbling to the floor. “That mate of yours is a firecracker. Good luck.” He snorted with a small laugh as he walked to the other side of the bed.
“Just wait until it’s your turn,” I grumbled, already feeling the strength return to my left arm.
“Me? Hell no. Not that I’m against mating. It’s a great practice. But if fate really matches you with the woman you need, then mine will be a sweet, biddable little thing who listens when I tell her to keep her ass safe in the house.” He unclicked the lock. “Fate knows anything else would drive me up a fucking wall.”
The shackle fell to the ground, and I took my first pain-free breath since they’d snapped into place. “That’s better.” I took breath after breath, feeling the power flood through me, restoring me to full strength.
“I’ll…uh…wait in the hall.” Benedict put the key on my chest. “You should keep that somewhere close by for the next time she decides you’re inconvenient.” He flashed a grin and disappeared into the hallway before I could beat the shit out of him.
Mostly because I knew he was right.
I dressed in record time and strapped up, choosing my favorite weapons as I glanced at the clock. She’d had a half-hour head start.
Fuck.
Yanking my hair out of the way with an elastic band, I strode into the hallway, fully clothed and armed. “Let’s go.”
Benedict smothered a smile, then followed.
The bond was…still faded, as though I was still bound by the iron. Maybe it took a while to come back after being exposed to the metal? But I knew from even that miniscule connection that Valor was no longer on the estate. I couldn’t even scent her.
Hawke, Alek, Ransom, and Lyric’s voices came from the dining room.
“She insisted we eat,” Benedict muttered from behind me.
I pushed my way through the French doors and stared down the table, which was laid out like a feast.
“And I love that you care,” Alek was saying, lifting his mate’s fingers to his lips. “But we have to get going, love.”
Lyric’s expression froze when she caught sight of me, her smile falling away.
Gotcha.
Looked like Valor hadn’t been alone in her plan.
“There you are,” Ransom gestured at me. “Grab something to eat. The men are gathering in the courtyard, and we have twenty minutes before we need to wend to the rendezvous point for Xavier.” He stuffed another piece of bacon in his mouth.
“Where did she go?” I growled at Lyric.
Every head swung my way.
“You might want to alter your tone,” Alek warned, coming to his feet. “That’s your queen.”
“Well aware.” I spared him a glance, and whatever he saw in my eyes was enough to send his gaze skittering toward his mate.
“What is he talking about?” he asked Lyric.
She swallowed.
“Where is she, Lyric?” I gripped the back of a chair, reminding myself that Lyric wasn’t the one who had chained me to the bed. She didn’t deserve my wrath. But it was clear to see that she knew. She’d known and had done nothing.
“I’m not exactly sure,” she said slowly.
“Not a lie,” Benedict chimed in, his sleeves pushed up to reveal his forearms.
“Lyric?” Alek’s brow furrowed.
She slowly met his gaze. “I’m not exactly sure where she went. Just that she needed a head start.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“She’s gone to the facility.” Ice crystals formed in my veins, and my heartrate leaped at the thought of what could have already happened to her. “Hasn’t she?”
“I think so,” Lyric answered, breaking her mate’s stare and sighing. “She didn’t give me any specifics for this exact reason.”
“She took off?” Ransom scrambled to his feet.
“Looks like it,” Hawke answered, still eating like none of this bothered him.
“What the hell was she thinking?” Alek roared.
“That she designed the place, so she could sneak in and out without alerting the guards?” Lyric offered, cringing slightly. “I mean, if I had to guess. She knew that going at the compound in an assault would get you hurt, if not killed. Again, guessing, since she used some kind of Disneyworld Magic Mountain analogy that I’m still not quite clear on.”
“We have to go now.” I turned to Ransom, mentally following the faint traces of our bond across Edgemont and to…the coast. “Call Xavier and tell him the rendezvous point has changed to the hill just on the other side of the facil
ity. We can’t wait. She’s got a half-hour head start, and she’s already in danger. I can track the bond that far.”
“She’s already there?” Ransom took out his phone and prepared to dial. “Wait. How did she get all the way over there so fast? It’s easily an hour drive…” His eyebrows shot up. “Oh shit.” His gaze swung to Lyric. “Please tell me she didn’t do what I think she did.”
Lyric turned a bright shade of red. “Maybe.”
Ransom threw his phone at Benedict as he ran out of the room. “Make the call!” he shouted over his shoulder, skidding around the corner into the hallway. “Olivia!”
Hawke stabbed another piece of sausage and cut it into little pieces on his plate. The fucker was a stone-cold killer but damn if his table manners weren’t as meticulous as he was.
“What is going on?” Alek asked Lyric, his voice softening as he lowered himself to her seated eye level. “You have to tell me, Lyric.”
She pressed her lips between her teeth and took a shuddered breath. “Okay. They just needed me to distract you for a few minutes so they could get out. She said they’d be in and out before you were even scheduled to meet up with Xavier, and I didn’t want you hurt!”
They. She’d used Olivia to wend. That was the only explanation.
Alek swore under his breath but cupped his mate’s cheek. “You and I are going to have to have a discussion on what teamwork really means when I get back.”
“I was just trying to keep you safe,” she whispered.
“I know.” He kissed her forehead and stood as Ransom slid into the room, his face white as a damned ghost.
“She used Olivia, didn’t she?” I growled.
His wide and panicked eyes met mine as he nodded. “They’re gone,” he whispered.
“Guess we’re going to have to rescue more than one woman,” Hawke muttered, already reaching for another bite.
“There’s no way they could break in there with just the two of them.” Benedict shook his head. “Sure, Olivia is the fastest vampire I know—male or female—but even if Valor’s codes worked on every door and they found the gap between patrols that doesn’t even exist, there’s no way they’re going to locate Daphne and get out without being seen.”
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