by Lexi Blake
Lee looked up, unable to ignore the fury going on around us, and then there was a righteous boom and I felt the heat from an explosion.
“Motherfucker,” Lee breathed in awe.
“My brother is not the only one with good aim,” Dev said and I knew he was satisfied with the destruction.
My faery prince had a preoccupation with explosions. He ducked suddenly as a large piece of the helicopter’s blades flew overhead. Dev had to hold on for dear life as it landed in front of us and Zack narrowly avoided it.
“Are we good?” Zack yelled the question.
“Not yet,” Dev responded, getting back into position. “I count four Humvees. I think we’ve managed to piss them off, Zack.”
“You always do, sir,” Zack yelled and I heard the laughter in his voice. I was glad Zack and Dev were getting off on our near-death experience. “It’s a special talent of yours. Hold on, sir. I’m heading into town. Maybe it will make them think twice.”
“It seems to be,” Dev replied. “They’re pulling back.”
I felt the car turn and then heard Zack yell. “Shit!”
He slammed the brakes on, and I groaned as my shoulder hit the back of the driver’s seat. I felt Zack slam the Jeep into reverse.
“It’s no use, man,” Dev said and I heard something heavy hit the ground. “Lee, come up carefully and show them your empty hands.”
The Jeep stopped moving entirely. We were still. My heart fell. I could only pray the fact that we hadn’t killed Ronald and Terry would help. I would have to talk damn fast to keep Lee and Zack alive. “How many did they send this time?”
“It’s not the Order, sweetheart,” Dev said carefully. “It’s much worse.”
“Hands up!” I heard someone scream through a bullhorn. “We have you covered! One wrong move and we will open fire.”
Lee got up and out of the Jeep. I felt the weight shift as everyone got out. I sat up and saw the long line of flashing lights covering the road, making it impossible for anyone to get by. Dev was right. It was way worse than the soldiers.
It was cops.
As I managed to get up, all the boys were already on the road on their knees, hands locked behind their heads. We knew the drill. I held my hands up as the police sent their first line toward us. Each carried a high-powered rifle and seemed damn serious about their jobs.
“On the ground!” I heard someone scream.
I knelt down beside Dev. I laced my hands and put them behind my head even though the pain was excruciating. I started to see little stars as the pain threatened to overwhelm me, but I took a deep breath and vowed to stay conscious.
“Daniel’s gonna kill me,” Dev whispered as the cops shoved him roughly to the ground.
Chapter Fourteen
New Scotland Yard was a model of neat efficiency, but even for a metropolitan police force dealing with a helicopter crash, a limo crash, and several homicide victims in the course of one afternoon caused a bit of stress. They were working overtime to keep the press at bay. So far everything had been fairly quiet. We’d been in a surprisingly isolated part of town and the local papers hadn’t picked up the story yet. They would before too long. We had to try to keep our faces out of the papers.
“Bugger had fourteen different weapons strapped to his body,” a burly officer complained as he brought my husband back. Dev’s hands were cuffed behind his back. “Ain’t never seen the like.”
He shoved Dev into the seat across from me and quickly cuffed him to the chair before turning his attention on Zack. “How many am I gonna find on you?”
Zack thought for a moment. “Four—no, five. If I just give you the weapons can we forego the strip search?”
“Not on your life. Let’s go,” the officer said, leading Zack away. He glanced back at me. “We’re getting a female officer for you. Don’t worry. You’ll have your turn, miss.”
Dev was a nice shade of pale and he shook his head as he gazed at me. “I am never joking with you about body cavity searches again. I have been violated on a level I never expected to be by the hairiest man I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s after dark, damn it.” Lee was getting antsy because his time was coming. “Where the hell is Donovan?”
“Probably somewhere over the Atlantic, I’d guess.” I bit back a cry as some jerk hit the chair I was cuffed to as he walked by. The cops didn’t believe I had a bullet in my shoulder. They couldn’t explain why my shirt had a hole in it, but the smooth skin of my upper body hid the injury. If I stayed very still, the pain was manageable.
“He needs to get his ass moving,” Lee grumbled. “Shouldn’t Neil be awake? He should be here making bail for us.”
“They’re not going to let us out on bail, Lee,” I said, shaking my head gently. “We blew up a helicopter. We caused an accident and they found gunpowder residue on your, Dev’s, and Zack’s hands. We’re being accused of multiple homicides, and I heard them talk about holding us for MI5.”
“Shit,” Dev said, his head hanging forward. “They think we’re terrorists.”
I nodded. If MI5 was getting involved, that’s exactly what they thought. This was serious. This wasn’t some Podunk police department in the middle of the country with two cops on staff. This was London’s finest and their counterterrorism unit. I had a hard time seeing how Danny was going to get us out of this. We were going to need a damn good lawyer.
“Well, all I can say is thanks so much for taking me with you,” Terry said from across the aisle. He’d been taken in the same time we had. They hadn’t cared he was unconscious and they didn’t believe his protestations of innocence. He just didn’t look like an innocent man. “You couldn’t just leave me behind? You couldn’t just shoot me?”
“I explained my reasons for not killing you,” Dev replied, his stare stony.
“Yeah, you’re scared of your wife,” the Aussie grumbled. “Next time, just shoot me and take your bloody medicine.”
Dev stared at me across the aisle and his eyes softened. “Are you all right, my goddess?”
I sighed and told him what I was really afraid of. “It won’t be hard for Marini to get to me, Dev. Even locked up, I’m worried he can get me out. They’re already talking about moving me to a women’s facility. I don’t want to be separated.”
Dev shook his head. “It won’t come to that. I realize that this is nothing like the last time we got arrested. Daniel won’t be able to walk in and convince these people to let us go, but he will get you out. No matter what. The rest of us will make do. He knows I don’t mind rotting in jail if it means you’re all right.”
“Well, I do mind,” Terry grumbled.
Dev turned back to the Aussie. “Shouldn’t your Order be storming in to get you back?”
“No, mate. I’m under strict orders to commit suicide if I get taken in. You didn’t give me a chance. By the time I woke up, those pommy bastards had taken my guns. Not that I actually would have. It seems a bit extreme to me.”
I kind of agreed with him on the whole suicide thing, but I didn’t have a chance to delve further. Zack was being brought back in. Zack had turned a nice shade of green and there was no way to miss how he winced as he sat down.
Poor Zack.
“Shit.” Lee cursed as the officer came back for him.
The officer frowned and started to haul Lee up. Then he stopped, his mouth dropping open. “What the hell?”
I turned to try to see what he was talking about.
Every eye in the building focused on a dark-haired man in an immaculate three-piece suit. He wasn’t the tallest man in the room, but there was no doubt he was the most powerful. His face was handsome, with a strong jaw and a Roman nose. He came by the nose honestly. He’d been born in Rome sometime after Christ.
Marcus Vorenus walked into the police station like he owned it. His dark eyes sought me out and he immediately made his way toward me. What happened next was like something out of a horror movie. There’s that moment when the heroine i
s standing in a hall and one by one the lights start to go off. She runs, but the darkness just chases her. Marcus was the darkness in this scenario. As Marcus made his way down the aisles of detectives’ desks, every human in the room fell where they were standing. They were like puppets that had their strings cut.
“Fuck me,” Terry said, his eyes wide. “That’s a vampire.”
“He’s on our side,” Dev said quietly. He watched Marcus move toward us.
A couple of the officers brought out guns and began to shout for Marcus to stop. Yeah, they went down, too. Marcus turned those dark eyes on them and they slumped to the floor, guns clattering.
Marcus wasn’t the strongest vampire in the world, but his mental powers were something to witness.
“Stop right…” I was sure the officer was going to complete his sentence with “there” but Marcus turned dark eyes at him and he crumpled like a rag doll. I noticed Terry had passed out in his seat.
“Hello, cara,” Marcus said, his deep voice intimate. There was a small smile on his face as he stood before me. “You’ve caused trouble.”
“I got shot if it makes you feel any better,” I offered lamely.
He frowned. “It does not, cara. Are you all right?”
Even as he asked the question, a group of people were walking up behind him. I heard them speaking to each other in rapid-fire Italian. There were two men and two women. They quickly found the keys to our handcuffs and began letting us out.
“I’m not looking forward to pulling the damn bullet out, but I’m alive and apparently I’m not going to be shoved in jail.” I winced as my hands came out of the cuffs.
The minute Dev was let out, he knelt down beside me. “I need to get you to a doctor.”
“We need to get everyone out of here first.” Though I wanted desperately to get the damn bullet out of my shoulder, I needed to make sure Lee and Zack were safe. They’d done their duty. I could handle a little pain if it meant doing mine.
“Let’s go. Hugo is waiting outside with the car. We must hurry. He’s keeping people out of the building, but that will only work for so long. My servants will erase any trace of your arrest from the system.” Marcus began barking orders to his assistants in Italian.
I stood up with Dev’s help. “What did you do to them, Marcus?”
“I told them to sleep and they did,” Marcus replied simply.
“Is there any sign of Daniel yet?” Dev asked. I could tell from the sound of his voice that he wasn’t sure which answer he wanted to hear. I wasn’t either. Daniel wasn’t going to be happy.
Marcus’s dark eyes narrowed. “The king has been informed as to what his royal consorts have been doing in his absence. I managed to contact him when he stopped in New York earlier. I preferred he not hear of your…adventures from the press. I’ve had to work very hard to keep this story quiet.”
Marcus was really good at making me feel like a naughty teenager.
“They started it,” I grumbled because I was really good at sounding like a grumpy teenager.
“Do you have any idea the trouble you have caused your husband, Zoey?” Marcus asked, his voice rising. “You are not on the continent for ten minutes before I have to assemble a cleaning crew. What would have happened if someone had taken pictures? Or video? Do you ever think?”
“Hey,” Dev said and I could see he was ready to take out a little of his previous anger over his not-sexy strip search on Marcus. “You don’t talk to her like that.”
Marcus turned to my husband. “I won’t even go into my displeasure with you, Devinshea. You were tasked with one goal—to get your queen safely to London. You couldn’t even accomplish that. It’s your fault that she was injured and you will be held accountable. Unfortunately I must leave your punishment to Daniel.”
“Punishment?” I asked, my voice filled with amused disbelief. The thought of Danny punishing Dev was amusing…and a little hot.
Dev didn’t see it that way. “You think he’s my fucking master, Marcus? You think he tells me what to do?”
“I don’t claim to have any understanding when it comes to your relationship with the king,” Marcus said. “Why he has allowed you to live I have no idea, but perhaps this incident will cause him to rethink the situation.”
I watched Dev’s face get red with rage and knew it was time for the queen to take over. I was done playing the victim here. I’m not used to having any real power and I sometimes let it get away from me. Now was not one of those times. I knew exactly how to handle the Italian. Marcus liked a firm hand.
“Marcus, you will hold your tongue if you can’t think of anything kind to say to my consort.” I placed careful emphasis on the word “my.” I stared down the Italian. “As you said, the king will handle us as he sees fit. It isn’t your place to chastise me or mine. Or do you claim rights over me, vampire?”
Marcus bowed his head slightly, a show of deference to his monarch. “I do not, mia regina. It’s my pleasure to do you this service.”
“Then do me the service of getting me to a place where I might deal with my injuries,” I requested in my best “I am queen” voice.
If my time in Faery had taught me anything, I had to act the part of a hardass royal to get any sort of respect. Even our vampire allies tended to think of me as Daniel’s lover rather than his partner. I didn’t like to think about how they regarded Devinshea. Daniel wanted to keep the peace, but he didn’t have to deal with constant disdain like Dev or perpetual misogyny like me. I was tired of being thought of as a sweet piece of ass the king got to bang. Daniel was asking us to live in this world, never understanding how marginalized we were.
“Of course.” Marcus politely gestured toward the door. “I think you will find all is in readiness for you. I’ve taken care of your requests personally.”
I held my hand out for my escort. This was for a dual purpose. In vampire society, a companion was almost always escorted. I also needed someone to lean on because I was getting weak from dealing with the shooting pains in my shoulder. Marcus moved in to lend his hand but I held back. As the highest-ranking vampire in the room, he should be my proper escort, but I was done doing things properly. “You are not my consort, Marcus.”
Dev walked up and took my arm, not able to resist flashing the vampire a little smirk. He looked down at me and I knew this was an important moment for us. “We’re not going to be circumspect are we, my lover?”
I shook my head, sure in my path now. “We are not. I’m either their queen or I’m nothing. I won’t play games any longer. They’ll accept me or not.”
I heard Marcus sigh but he spoke quietly to his people as we prepared to leave.
“Zack, would you be so kind as to bring along our Australian friend? I still have questions for him.” Dev’s face was a picture of calm now that he was sure of his status, at least in my eyes.
Zack hoisted Terry over his shoulder and we started out the doors toward the waiting limo. Even as we walked out the door I heard Lee as he approached Marcus.
“Uh, Marcus, Zoey there might be a little pissed at you, but I just wanted to say thanks.” It was the most sincerity I’d ever heard coming out of Lee’s mouth. “Your timing was impeccable, man.”
“Not for me, it wasn’t,” Zack grumbled. “You couldn’t get here ten minutes earlier?”
I laughed a little as Dev led me outside. I was surprised at the calmness of the London night. I could see people walking up and down the street, but they seemed to not notice the large black stretch limo or the people walking out of the police station. They didn’t even bat an eye at Zack, who was carrying an unconscious man dressed in fatigues over his shoulder. Now that I really paid attention, I noticed everyone seemed to walk around the station house, giving the place a wide berth without ever realizing why.
Hugo Wells was shielding us from their eyes. I thought about what I knew of the man. He was an academic, like Marcus and Henri Jacobs. His mental powers were the bulk of his strength.
“My god, Marcus,” a cultured British accent said as I stepped up to the limo. His cerulean eyes were locked on me. “You said she was bright but…” I knew that look. If he were a younger vampire, this would be the part where Dev would have to defend me, but Hugo Wells was at least five hundred years old. He had control of his instincts. “No wonder Marini is obsessed with her. I could get obsessed with that.” He said that last bit with such longing, I heard Dev curse beside me.
I felt Dev reach into the back of my skirt where I kept a small pistol in a holster. They hadn’t taken my guns and Dev knew just where to look. Lee, who had also avoided the strip search, pulled his hidden gun as well. Hugo Wells suddenly had long fangs. He took exception to being considered a threat.
“Mr. Wells,” I said, meeting the vampire’s eyes. “I’m sure you’ll discover my guard will lower their weapons if you would kindly stop looking at me like I’m a particularly juicy steak.”
The vampire had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed. Marcus chuckled. He was unconcerned with the amount of guns being pointed all around. “You have another conquest, cara. Don’t worry about it. We all have that reaction, Hugo. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“No, Hugo,” Dev drawled. “Allow me to beat you up over it.”
Hugo Wells was roughly the same height as Marcus, so he stood about five inches over me but was certainly shorter than Dev. He was solidly built, with a barrel chest and what appeared to be an incredibly strong body. His face was smooth and white, but he was the first vampire I’d seen who sported a beard. From what I knew about the vampire, he’d been born during Elizabeth’s reign and, like all academics, was considered extremely intelligent. He was used to a red-haired queen, and that was a good thing.
“If we might get to more comfortable accommodations, Mr. Wells, I would appreciate it,” I said evenly. He was blocking the way into the limo. “I believe I’ve had enough of Scotland Yard’s hospitality.”
