by Sedona Venez
One of the men jabbered, “It’s the other two we're worried about.”
My eyes widened at the drama unfolding.
Vivica winked at me. “Consorts. Can’t live with them. Can’t live without them.” She looked at them pointedly before pushing past them and walking over to Reason to hug her. “You’re working too hard, darling. You need to come to Redemption more often. You're due for a sound paddling. And I have the perfect Dominant who will break your ridiculous dry spell.”
Jackal growled with displeasure.
Vivica looked at him with interest, then back at Reason. “Is the wolf-shifter yours?”
Reason’s shoulders stiffened. “Nope. He’s not interested in vampires.”
“Well, that’s a shame,” she drawled.
Orlov looked at Jackal with aversion. “He should be so lucky to be in your presence. He’s a wolf-shifter. You’re a blueblood vampire. He’s not worth your time.”
Ryker widened his stance, staring menacingly at Orlov. “I’m going to forgive your insolence because I don’t feel like getting my clothes dirty by kicking your ass.”
Orlov’s enforcers stepped forward at the same time Jackal and Rip stepped forward. Everyone around me stiffened and an uncomfortable hush fell upon us. I placed a gentle hand on Ryker’s arm. “Can we do this without getting blood all over my designer dress?”
Ryker tilted his head as he considered me before nodding at Jackal and Rip. They stepped back. Reason gave her father an exasperated glare. He nodded stiffly to his enforcers. They stepped back also.
“I don’t have time for this!” Orlov elucidated with an air of arrogance.
“Make time,” Ryker drawled, his low tone emanating anger. “We have business we need to deal with.”
“There is no ‘we,’ shifter. My second-in-command has been slaughtered by your kind. And we are now on the verge of a vampire-shifter war.” Orlov tilted his head. “I agreed to this meeting only to appease my curiosity.” Vivica scoffed. “And because Vivica asked me to hear you out.”
I didn’t like this at all. My hand went instinctively to Ryker’s back. I could feel the muscles bunched. He was pissed, but his face remained calm. The air stilled. “We both know a war will not be good for any of us. Our numbers are already thin. We can’t afford to lose any more vampires or shifters.”
Orlov frowned. “And what do you plan to do to avoid the inevitable bearer of the Sword of Souls?”
“I don’t have time for bullshit, Orlov,” Ryker told him with a tick in his jaw. “You and I know your clan is in disarray. If it wasn’t, Dimitri wouldn’t be meeting Houston and Noah behind your back.”
They stared at each other tensely. The silence went on for so long I forced myself not to shift anxiously.
“There are issues I’m currently resolving.” His voice held an edge of rage, yet his demeanor was controlled.
“So we agree Dimitri, Houston, and the two shifters’ deaths were not a coincidence,” Ryker responded curtly. “Something’s going on. And if we don’t figure out what, we’re not going to survive the week. Someone’s trying to send our world spiraling toward war. Now I need you to tell me what you know about the Shadows.”
Orlov considered Ryker for a second. “They’re a group of filthy warlocks who have been buying up property in Manhattan,” he spat out. “I thought nothing of it until some of their members starting visiting my clubs, asking a lot of detailed questions.”
I posed quietly but inside I was seething.
“Questions about what?” Ryker inquired in an authoritative tone.
“About the peace treaty negotiations,” Orlov responded curtly.
“Do you know anything regarding the recent chatter about humans looking for Other organs?”
Orlov shrugged. “Yes. But you and I know it’s not as simple as taking our organs or blood and becoming a shifter or vampire. If that were the case, we all would be extinct by now. Once our organs leave our bodies, it dies.”
“What if they figured out how to bypass that?” Ryker asked.
Vivica laughed. “Impossible.”
“Not anymore,” Jackal commented. “I have it from a good source the Shadows have figured out how to harvest Other organs. It won’t make the organ recipient an Other, but it will significantly extend their life. It’s like the Holy Grail, the equivalent of a fountain of youth for humans.”
Vivica stared, dumbfounded. “They’ll hunt Others like animals.”
“They’ve already started,” Ryker stated dryly. “Now the Shadows are everyone’s problem.” He stared at Orlov pointedly.
“Apparently,” Orlov replied. “Let me call my contacts. They can help us.”
My mind was reeling. I didn’t know how much I should reveal about my link to the Shadows. What would Ryker do? I pulled out my cell discreetly, texting “911” to Mom, and wiped the sweat glistening on my forehead.
Ryker wrapped his arm around me. “Is everything all right?”
Damn his shifter senses. He probably smelled the anxiousness seeping out from my pores. I didn’t want to lie. I knew telling him the truth would open a whole can of whip ass I wasn’t prepared to deal with. “I… uh… well…” My eyebrows rose as I slightly stepped away. “Shit… maybe we should…” I sighed when my cell rang. “Sorry, I need to take this.” My eyes darted toward the door, and I half-stepped toward it. Ryker grabbed my wrist.
“Are you sure everything is all right?” he hissed.
I looked pointedly at his hand. “Yup… pretty sure…” He reluctantly released me, nodding at Rip to go with me “No. I need a minute to take this call in private. I’ll stay right outside this room. I promise.” I sighed with relief when Ryker reluctantly conceded. I walked out of the room, letting the darkness of the passageway shroud me. “Hey, Mom?” I whispered. The cell crackled. “Great.” I looked at the door warily before creeping farther down the passageway. “Mom?”
“Where are you, Light? The reception is shitty.”
“Redemption…” I seethed. My hands clenched at my sides.
“What are you doing there? Is Ryker with you?”
I could hear the anxiousness in her voice, but right now there were bigger issues. “Ryker is meeting with Orlov. Look, we’ve got some issues here. They’ve figured out the Shadows are behind the killings.”
Silence filled the air. “Hold on, let me put you on speaker.” There was a beat. “Okay, Ava’s here. So the Shadows are behind the killings…”
“Fuck! I’m going to need a glass of wine for this,” Aunt Ava snapped.
My hands started shaking. “The Shadows are selling Others’s organs.” My teeth gritted. “Look, I don’t feel comfortable not telling Ryker the truth about me. They’re going to dig, Mom. And there’s no doubt in my mind he will find out. I think I should tell him.” I wasn’t comfortable lying. It wasn’t in my DNA. Right off the bat, I said what I felt. There were no games with me, but now it was as if I were being sucked into some shit that I wanted nothing to do with.
“Listen to me. You cannot tell him.”
“The hell I can’t. We can trust him. If we couldn’t, why would you trust him to protect me?” Now I was royally pissed.
“I’m not telling you not to. I’m saying Redemption is not the place. Wait until you get back to his place and then tell him,” Mom commented.
A cold breeze brushed my neck. My eyes darted around suspiciously. “Good. I’ve got to go. This passageway is creeping me the hell out. I’ll call you when I tell him.” I disconnected. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as if someone were watching me. A chill ran through me. Maybe it was a bad idea to leave Ryker’s protection.
I watched with disbelief, then horror, as the fire door at the end of the passageway flew open and men dressed in black stormed through it. I didn’t think. I spun on my heels and ran before I felt the yank on my hair, slamming me against a marshmallow-soft body. I tried to scream, but a hand cupped my mouth as I kicked and clawed at the black-haired man
dragging me toward the exit.
The other man with mousy-brown hair kept his eyes darting around nervously as he shuffled toward the exit. “Hurry up,” he hissed. “And keep her quiet.”
Oh my God. They are going to kill me. This was it. This was how I was going to die. I struggled harder, knowing full well if they got me out of Redemption, I was fucked. I felt the sharp edge of something cold against my throat. I gagged at the smell of his sour breath as he hissed against my ear. “I cut you like a fucking pig if you don’t calm the hell down.” I felt the sting of the knife as he pressed it against my neck. My body tightened. There was no doubt in my mind he would cut me right here.
From the darkness, a man uttered, “Let her go.”
The black-haired man pinned me against his body. “Who’s there?”
I stared in fascination when a man who appeared to be in his fifties emerged from the shadows, looking like an older version of James Bond, gray but still dangerous.
“Raphael,” the brown-haired man hissed. “Your father knew the news of your daughter being in danger would finally bring you crawling out of your hole.”
Raphael? This man is my father? I felt the rush of adrenaline passing through my bloodstream.
“Rick and Barnes. Why doesn’t it surprise me he’s still using you two asses as his favorite errand boys,” Raphael answered, his voice easy and slightly bored. “Now go back and tell my father I’ll never let him have her.”
Seconds passed in silence before Barnes stammered, “Fuck you. You’re a traitor to your kind.”
BAM. Raphael swooped forward with inhuman speed, punching him, sending him crashing against the wall.
Ryker came crashing out of the room, looking ominous and deadly. “Let her go.” He pulled out a gun, aiming at Rick.
Rick swung around, using me as a shield.
“Rick. Shit’s not worth it,” Barnes stuttered.
“He’ll kill us if we show up without her,” Rick yelled, pressing the knife against my throat. I flinched when the knife sliced me.
“And I’ll kill you if you don’t let her go.” Ryker’s response was slow and almost lazy sounding.
Rick dragged me toward the exit. He stopped short when he saw Rip and Jackal blocking the exit with guns drawn. He was trapped. Ryker stepped forward. “This has nothing to do with you, wolf. Tell your men to step aside.” He sliced my arm brutally.
I gritted my teeth. “Guys, he’s not fucking joking here.”
“This will not end well, Rick. Let her go,” Raphael snapped.
Ryker glared at Raphael. “Who the fuck are you?”
Raphael ignored him, looking at Barnes and Rick with contempt. “For the life of me, I can’t figure out why my father still has you dumbasses around.”
Ryker’s lips pulled back in a snarl, and I blinked at the length of his canines. “Let her go, and I’ll make sure when I kill you, I won’t make you suffer… much.”
Barnes fidgeted nervously.
Rick scoffed. “If I go… she goes.”
“Oh, to hell with this.” I back-kicked him in the knee. Hard.
Rick groaned, “Fuck,” doubling over. I brought my knee up, connecting it with his face.
“Light! Move,” Ryker snapped.
Rick was getting up. I dropped to the floor, getting the hell out of the way, as Ryker took the shot. Rick crumpled to the floor dead, steps in front of me. Barnes sprinted to the exit. Rip intercepted him, snapping his neck easily. I flinched at the sheer brutality as Barnes landed with a dull thud onto the floor.
Raphael looked on coldly when Ryker pulled me to my feet. He gave me a light push, motioning me to move behind him while pointing his gun at Raphael.
Raphael was either crazy or stupid because he didn’t move. He looked at me with a slight smile. “I’ve been waiting a long time to formally meet you, Light.”
“Who the hell are you?” Ryker asked immediately.
I moved from behind Ryker. His arm wrapped around me to his side. “Light?”
“He’s my father,” I retorted easily, my voice belying the tension in my body.
Raphael nodded. “I am.” His voice was strained. “Are you okay?” He reached forward to touch me.
I pulled away angrily. I didn’t want to be touched by him.
His hands dropped to his sides and tightened. He looked at Ryker; his eyes flashed angrily. “Why did you bring her here? She was safer with Lia and Ava. They hid her for twenty-three years. Why isn’t she with them?”
My heart pounded in my throat as Ryker looked at me angrily. “What is he talking about?”
I licked my lips nervously when I noticed the crowd gathered, looking on curiously. “We need to talk in private.”
He snarled and looked over at Raphael. “Who are Lia and Ava hiding Light from?”
Raphael stared into space as if listening to something. “More Shadows are coming. You have to get her out of here.”
Ryker nodded at Orlov and his enforcers. “We need some privacy.”
“We’ll make sure to clean up the bodies,” Orlov replied curtly before he and his enforcers slid back into the party.
Raphael looked around anxiously. “We don’t have time for this.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know the truth.”
Raphael frowned at me. “Why didn’t you tell him?”
I shrugged.
Raphael shook his head at me with disapproval before he continued. “My father is the leader of the Shadows. And he wants Light to help him complete a dream the Shadows have been trying to fulfill for centuries—to create a new race of Fae to destroy the Others.”
Ryker’s gaze fell to me, then back to Raphael. “They’re behind the recent deaths?”
“Can’t say for sure, but if my father has anything to do with it, believe me, it can’t be good.” He looked at me worriedly. “Now, you have to go. Knowing my father, he’s probably sent more of his minions to get her.”
Ryker’s lip curled upward, but he didn’t protest. What he did next was a thousand times worse. “Rip, Jackal, I need some time to cool off. Make sure Light gets home safely.” He shoved me toward them, walking away without a backward glance.
RYKER WAS PISSED. BUT WHAT hurt me the most was when he walked away without a backward glance. I was crushed. I would have felt better if he had yelled or snarled, but he didn’t. I should have told him the truth. To make matters worse, he didn’t even drive back to his penthouse with us. No, I had to suffer through the utter silence and accusing looks Rip and Jackal gave me all the way back to the penthouse.
Great, now I am enemy number one.
I stepped out of the glass-enclosed walk-in shower, wrapping a big fluffy towel around me. I sighed as I leaned against the marble bathroom vanity, looking at the already healing cuts on my body. Shit, this wasn’t normal. I wasn’t normal. I clenched my fist. I was a freak of nature like my father. No, not father… He was my sperm donor. Angrily, I pushed away from the sink, dropping the towel and pulling on my tank top and underwear. Maybe I should make peace. Explain everything to him. But it would be after the fact. Would it even make a difference?
I never gave a shit before about what a man thought, and I damn sure didn’t care about making peace. Now I was ready to track my wolf down and beg for forgiveness. What has this man done to me? I sighed heavily, stepping out of the bathroom. I skidded to a stop when I saw Ryker standing in my bedroom doorway, waiting.
“On the bed and spread it wide,” he growled.
I stilled. So that’s how he wanted to play it. Now we were back on solid ground. Sex I understood. No more of this emotional, touchy-feely bullshit. We fuck this out and move on. I gave him a flirty smile.
“Oh, I love where you’re going with this.” I winked at him. “Do you want to frisk me first or should I assume the position?”
He looked me coolly while shaking a bottle of oil. “Healing oil… Rosa said it should help with your cuts.”
“You know you’re nothi
ng but a cock tease.” I tried to hide my disappointment. “Okay, give it here and get the hell out.” I reached for it.
He frowned. “Get on the bed.”
I crawled onto the bed, stretching out facedown. I glanced back at him. “Like this?” I wiggled my ass and eyebrows at him.
“Light—” He slapped my ass impatiently. “Lie down. Spread your legs wide.”
If he made me wait any longer, I was going take matters in my own hand—I glanced at his cock—literally. “Your wish is my command, Alpha.” I stretched my arms in front of me, gripping the sheets.
My heart raced as he knelt behind me. His fingers dug into my hair, snatching my head back. “You should have thought about that shit when you deliberately failed to tell me about your father.” He pulled away, easing toward the headboard, where he leaned against it and waited. “Come over here.”
I sighed, easing over onto my knees, crawling over to him, settling between his muscled legs with my back pressed against his chest. I bit my bottom lip when he dripped oil on my cuts, rubbing it in gently. God, this man had wonderful hands. I bit back a moan. I never wanted to fuck so badly before.
Focus, girl.
I cleared my throat. “Ryker, we need to talk.”
“Yeah, we do.”
A long moment passed before either of us spoke.
“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “I should have told you about my father. Before today, I didn’t even know he was alive.” I paused. “Frankly, I didn’t know a lot of things.”
“And the Shadows?”
“I didn’t know they even existed before today.” I rolled my eyes as his hands slid along my thighs. “Believe me. Finding out my grandfather is a lunatic is not exactly thrilling. And finding out he’s trying to kidnap me… is damn frightening.”
His hands stilled. “You should have told me.”
“I couldn’t. I swore to my mother I wouldn’t.”
He growled. “Don’t blame this shit on her.”
“Ryker—”
