by Lexi Blake
I looked into the distance and saw what had been hidden before. A group of soldiers had been hiding in the background, but they were on their feet now and had started slowly escorting Nim and Stewart toward us. I wondered how they managed to catch the two powerful creatures unaware.
Ronald walked down the small road with his escort of five well-armed men. The lanky Brit was more like his soldiers today. Gone was the expensive suit. He was dressed in fatigues and combat boots. “So, Mr. Quinn, I underestimated you the first time. I think you will find I have not made the same mistake twice.”
Dev looked around at the troops, and his eyes showed that he wasn’t particularly impressed. Dev had some major issues with authority figures. “Is that a fact, Ronnie? I think you’ll find you’ve fucked up again. Once we’ve mopped the floor with your ass, I’ll explain some realities of our world to you.”
Ronald’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Quinn, I suggest you have your men relinquish their firearms. I’m offering your werewolves the chance to live if they submit. If they do not, I’ll order my men to kill them on the spot. Our bullets are silver and these men are highly trained. They won’t miss.”
“Tell me, Ronald,” Daniel said, his voice commanding attention. “How many of your men are you willing to lose?”
Ronald turned his attention to the newcomer. Though Dev held his gun and the wolves were known quantities, I saw the minute Ronald decided that whoever this dark man was, he was potentially deadly. “I intend to lose no more men this day. I’ve lost enough to a common criminal.”
That last bit was said straight to Dev. “I take offense to that, Ronald. I’m anything but common.”
“Tell me, Quinn, you bottom-feeder,” Ronald spat out. “How did you kill Terry? He was twenty-three years old, you know. His father is one of the men on the rooftops, and he’s itching to pull that trigger. I promised him a little alone time with you, if you understand my meaning.”
“We didn’t kill Terry.” I moved a half inch forward before Lee’s hand had me in a vise grip.
“Zoey, stay back,” Dev growled. He gave Lee a pointed look that told him to control me.
“You’ll forgive me if I suspect your husband keeps you in the dark, Mrs. Quinn,” Ronald responded with a hint of sympathy in his voice. “As you discovered yesterday, he has been damn good at hiding his crimes from you. He lies to you, Mrs. Quinn. He’s a stone-cold killer.”
I shook my head because Ronald was just flat out wrong on this one. “I was there. I interrogated Terry myself, although it wasn’t so much a Q&A as a lecture once Jacob showed up.”
Ronald stilled. “The oracle found you?”
I nodded. I had found the discussion with the oracle both illuminating and intensely disturbing. I didn’t know what to think about the fact that he’d spent an enormous amount of time maneuvering Daniel and me into position. “Apparently he’s known where I was most of my life. He explained a lot to me. Look, I know you guys think that Merlin is the enemy, but we need him. What will happen if we don’t get Merlin to help is all-out war. We’re not going to let that happen, so you should just get out of our way and let us do what we need to do. We’ll help you deal with the ramifications of anything that goes wrong. The oracle thinks we’re on the right path. He’s gone, by the way. He said he was done with this particular mission and he took Terry with him.”
“I don’t believe you. The oracle has been a part of the Order for seven hundred years,” Ronald explained. “He wouldn’t walk away as the biggest threat to our mission is standing in the doorway of the wizard’s prison.”
I looked straight into Ronald’s eyes. “He said the king will handle everything from now on.”
Ronald’s head whipped back around to Daniel, and his jaw dropped open. “No, I don’t believe it. The oracle would have warned us.”
“I think you’re the one who’s been lied to, Ronald.” I felt some sympathy for him. He’d dedicated himself to his cause, to a creature he believed was as dedicated as he was only to find out he’d been manipulated for reasons he couldn’t fathom. “My husband is the king the oracle has been waiting for. He waited seven hundred years for the King of all Vampire to rise.”
“Daniel,” Dev said quietly. “I don’t think he’s going to believe it until he sees it for himself.”
Daniel reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing his face. He pulled his sunglasses off and when he smiled at Ronald, he made sure everyone got a good look at his fangs.
Ronald’s reaction was to take a step back. “But it’s daylight.”
“Daylight doesn’t affect the King of all Vampire.” Dev didn’t mention that it was because of him that Daniel could walk in the light but after what the oracle had said, I had to believe that Dev coming into our lives wasn’t a coincidence either. We needed Dev and he’d been given to us.
“And my queen will be referred to as Her Highness,” Daniel said seriously. “I’m told the Order should be well informed of our traditions. Traditionally, it’s not considered proper to greet a monarch with bullets and a show of force. I’ll allow that you didn’t know who Devinshea and my queen were the first time you met them, but you know now. I will take any threat to my partner or my wife very seriously.”
Ronald was talking on his Bluetooth again. “The newcomer is a vampire. I want every operative trained on the female.”
“Down!” Lee yelled and I found myself eating dirt as Lee covered my body with his. Neil added his own body and I just tried to keep breathing.
“Keep her head covered,” Lee ordered, but Neil was already doing his job.
“Mr. Donovan, stand down,” Ronald said, his voice shaky. “We have all our weapons aimed on your companion. Please inform your guard that our weapons are of a high enough caliber that they should merely pass through their bodies on the way to hers. What they’re doing, while noble, won’t solve your problem.”
“We’ll take that chance.” I heard Daniel say. “You’ll have to kill us all to get anywhere near her.”
“This time I kill you,” Dev vowed.
“And then my men will simply shoot until your wife is dead,” Ronald replied, sounding more sensible now. He was a professional at heart and he was getting himself under control again. “I’m sorry, but I really have no other choice. I don’t like to use a woman in this fashion. It goes against all of my teachings, but we cannot fight a death machine. If I attempted to fight honorably, I would merely watch my men die one by one at your hands, Mr. Donovan. She’s the only way we have to counter the threat you pose. We can only hope your feelings for your companion will lead you to rethink this mission.”
“I’m rethinking a lot of things right this moment, Ronald,” I heard Daniel say. His voice was a low growl. “I don’t think you’ll like a thing that’s going through my brain right now.”
“Mr. Donovan, I just sent a text to bring in the vampire containment unit. The helicopter should be here in fifteen minutes. Mr. Quinn will hand over his weapon and any others he has hidden on his person. The wolves will kneel and submit to silver chains while we wait on the silver rope and coffin. Once you’re all properly contained, we’ll go back to HQ and sort through everything. If you behave, your companion will be treated as a guest. She’s no threat to us, so we can treat her gently if you allow us to do so.”
Daniel’s laugh boomed through the morning air. “That just shows me what a dumbass you are if you think my Z is no threat to you. Z can be a threat to the whole planet when she wants to be. Devinshea, protect our wife.”
I felt Lee tense above me as he waited for the bullets, but before anyone could fire, the ground around me rumbled and I shrank back as thick green vines sprang from the ground and shot into the air. It made a little cocoon around me, Lee, and Neil. Those woody vines made it hard to see exactly where I was and would be effective in stopping even high-caliber bullets. I heard Lee sigh above me and he backed off the slightest bit so I could breathe.
“I hope there’s no poison ivy,” Ne
il said, looking a little claustrophobic. The small space wasn’t tiny. We could move around but Neil, despite being a freaking werewolf, was really more of a city boy.
I peered through an opening in the green canopy and watched as Daniel flew straight up and Zack pulled Dev back. They ran for us and Dev flicked his hands, suddenly opening the canopy to allow them in. I heard the sharp report of gunfire and Zack picked up his boss and tossed him in as he leapt for safety. He and Zack were inside our green cave and it closed behind us again. It was a tight fit, but Dev pulled me close and made it work. He put his back to the front of the small protective barrier, and I knew he was trying to make sure any bullet that made it through got to him first.
“Everyone all right?” he asked.
The wolves all nodded that they hadn’t been hit.
“What’s Donovan’s plan?” Lee asked.
Dev shook his head. “You won’t like it.”
Ronald’s voice rang out over the fields. “Very impressive, Mr. Quinn. You truly are a Green Man. Unfortunately, you’re trapped and that vampire of yours has taken off. I am afraid he doesn’t quite live up to what I would have expected from a Nex Apparatus, much less an actual king. He left his own companion behind to deal with this. Truly remarkable. I thought a companion was like a vampire’s gold. You learn something new each day. Gentlemen, take the prisoners. Shoot the wolves if they give you any trouble at all and for god’s sake, if Quinn mouths off, please fill him full of silver. He’s only half Fae. It should kill him. Go!”
There was a strange whining sound coming from somewhere high above us, and I felt Dev tense. It seemed to be getting closer with each passing second as the sound grew louder.
“Oh, shit,” Lee cursed. “He’s going to hit the ground at that speed? Does he know what that’s going to do to us?”
“No choice. Cover your ears,” Dev said, shoving me under his body.
I did as he asked and felt his hands come over mine. I tried to glimpse the world outside and saw Ronald look suddenly up at the sky. He pointed his warning and then there was a whole lot of shouting and screaming and running to get away. Then I couldn’t see anything because Dev was flattening his body against mine until he covered every inch of me.
When Daniel hit the ground, it was like an earthquake. The ground under me shook and rattled. Even through the dual barrier of my and Dev’s hands, I heard the strange, unnatural thud followed by the shattering of glass and the moaning of the soldiers who’d been hit by the concussive wave following Daniel’s impact.
Dev moved into a sitting position, allowing me to get up. Lee and Zack were bleeding from both ears but they’d covered Neil, who was shaking his head as if trying to find his equilibrium. I was so thankful to the wolves right then as Neil stuck his pinky finger in his not completely shattered ear. Neil was the only one of us not on vampire blood or just super-freaky powerful like Lee. The wolves’ ears were far more sensitive than anything else out here. It stood to reason that they would most be affected by the boom Danny’s body bomb had set off, but Lee and Zack would heal quickly where Neil would struggle with the pain for a lot longer. Zack and Lee had done their duty and protected the weakest member of their pack.
Dev helped me up and I could see his more sensitive Fae ears hadn’t gotten out unharmed. He’d been too busy protecting me, and there was a thin line of blood running from both his ears. I reached up and wiped it off with my fingers before going on my toes to gently kiss the ears that had taken the pain meant for me. I’d heard him say it before, but it hit me that he meant what he’d told me. He would die for me. I hugged him and vowed to not let that happen. He turned to the front of the canopy and the protective barrier melted away at a wave of his hands.
“Stay close,” he said in a too-loud voice.
Daniel was just crawling from the small but substantial crater his body had created. I watched as one clawed hand dug into the earth and then a black boot came over the edge. Daniel swung himself up and appeared none the worse for the wear. He brushed dirt off his leather jacket and his eyes immediately sought us out.
Dev gave Daniel a thumbs-up as he held my hand and led me around the bodies of the soldiers on the ground. The humans hadn’t been prepared for Daniel’s play. They were alive, but some were unconscious and the ones closest to the impact had their eardrums completely shattered. Dev had his SIG Sauer out ready to shoot anything that started to move toward us. He wasn’t in a good mood, and I got the feeling he was more than willing to use that gun in his hand at the first sign of a threat. I felt Lee at my back and his gun was out as well.
There was shattered glass all over the place, and I could see that one of the buildings had slightly caved in on itself. The soldiers who had previously been targeting me from the roof were lying in the grass.
Daniel walked through the wreckage, seeking his target. He used the toe of his boot to turn over the soldiers on the ground, but didn’t see the face he was looking for. Some of the soldiers were starting to stumble to their feet, but they were still disoriented and not at all ready to fight it out.
Daniel finally located Ronald, who was struggling to get to his feet. The thud of a helicopter filled the world. The helicopter moved quickly and it didn’t wait to land. The men began to come off the chopper, dropping to the ground from ropes secured to the aircraft. They hit the ground and ignored the devastation around them. They were professionals and immediately locked onto us.
“Drop your weapons!” they yelled, walking aggressively toward us.
Daniel hauled Ronald up by the nape of his flak jacket. He’d been far enough from the epicenter that his eardrums seemed intact, but he was dazed as the vampire pulled him to his feet.
“Get back,” Daniel warned in a growl as he used the Order’s leader as a human shield. He moved toward us and shoved Ronald’s body at Dev. “Take off his head if they shoot at us.”
“With pleasure,” Dev replied, his voice sounding more normal. The vampire blood in his system was already working to heal the wounded tissue in his ears. He held Ronald close to his body, an arm under his neck, and pressed that SIG Sauer into his temple with a certain amount of malicious glee. “How do you like being used as a human shield, Ronald? Did you think for a minute we would let you get away with pointing a fucking gun at our wife’s head?”
“Dev, we’ll gut him later, man. For now, we need him alive.” Daniel turned out to be the unlikely voice of reason.
I was stuck between Lee and Neil as we watched the soldiers from the helicopter advance on us. Daniel moved to the front of the party and I got nauseous at the thought of what could happen. He was making himself an enormous target, and they really did have silver bullets.
“You can’t win,” Ronald said. “They’ve already sent for more reinforcements. We’ll have you surrounded and this time we’ll have air support. The minute the vampire takes off, we’ll see if he can handle a surface-to-air missile. There’s nowhere to run, Mr. Donovan.”
“We’ll come up with something,” Dev swore.
Daniel didn’t look so sure. Ronald was taking advantage of his obvious discomfort.
“You’ll probably survive, vampire, but your companion will likely not,” Ronald said reasonably. “I can assure you that Mr. Quinn won’t survive. He’ll go down in a hail of bullets. Do you want to be responsible for the deaths of the two people you supposedly love, Mr. Donovan?”
The whole time he was talking, more and more guns were trained on us. More and more soldiers surrounded us.
“Shut up, Ronald,” Dev said, his voice a harsh grind. He pushed the gun in tight against the man’s skull. “Daniel will get us out of this and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I will get us out of this, Devinshea,” Danny promised. He looked over at me, his face grave. He stared for a moment and then turned his blue eyes back to Ronald. “You will allow Devinshea to leave with my companion and there will be no reprisals. He’ll take her to a sithein.”
“Daniel.�
�� Dev shook his head.
“No,” I shouted. I was pretty sure he wasn’t going with us, and I wasn’t leaving him behind.
Daniel didn’t look at me. He focused every ounce of his will on Dev. “Dev, you promised me. You promised me you would take her kicking and screaming if you had to. Ronald is right. I might be able to get away, but I could never live with the cost. Fighting Marini was dependent on getting what we needed from Merlin. That’s not going to happen. The time has come to cut and run.”
Dev cursed but his shoulders slumped in defeat.
I stepped forward even as we were completely surrounded. They formed a circle around us. “Do I get a say in any of this?”
“No, baby,” Daniel said sadly. “None of us gets a say. Will you think about it, please? If you stay and fight, Dev and I will die to protect you and so will Lee and Neil and Zack. If you go to the sithein, then they live.”
I squeezed my eyes shut at the unfairness of it all. Daniel knew where to stick the knife in.
“You’ll allow my companion and partner to go? I’ll submit to the chains and the coffin and I’ll submit to whatever punishment the Order has for them, but I will be the only one punished,” Daniel offered.
“Mr. Quinn isn’t allowed to come back to this plane.” Ronald gave his own amendment. “If we get the slightest hint that he’s returned, all of our bets are off and we will hunt your companion down.”
Daniel nodded. “They’ll live in exile.”
“I agree then.” Ronald made his deal. “To show I’m a fair man, I’ll allow the wolves to go as well.”
Zack laid his gun down, bringing his hands up. “I’m staying with my master.”
“Zack, you will go,” Daniel commanded.
For the first time since he became Daniel’s servant, Zack shook his head at him. “In this, I cannot obey you, master.”
Daniel nodded and my love for Zack shot straight through the roof. Daniel held his hands in the air. “Devinshea, let him go. It’s time.”
“Damn it,” Dev cursed as he let Ronald go. When he turned to me, I could see the raw emotion on his face. He hated what he was doing. He wanted to stand and fight, but he’d made a solemn vow and would never break his word to Daniel. He walked back and took my hand. His face was set. “Come along, my goddess.”
