by Rye Brewer
They went silent all at once. It was eerie.
“Thank you for taking the time to be here,” I said, looking at each of them in turn.
Landon’s face was red, either from embarrassment at being caught trying to haggle votes against me—I didn’t need to be there to know that was exactly his purpose—or from sheer exertion at straining to be heard against his dissenters. He ran a hand over his hair, smoothing it into place, before nodding in greeting.
Will Carver, on the other hand, was the picture of tranquility. He leaned back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other knee, fingers tented beneath his chin. He’d inherited his father’s icy looks, the thin, patrician features. “Thank you for deigning to bless us with your presence,” he said, causing a few of those in attendance to snicker.
“I had a last-minute emergency at the high-rise—which you understand quite a bit about, as I hear it. I was not the one who requested the meeting be moved to a later date due to an emergency. That was you.” I stared at him, silently daring him to talk back. I almost wanted him to.
He didn’t. Instead, he lowered his gaze and added, “And I thank you all for your generosity. You were good to indulge me in my time of need. My clan thanks you.”
A murmur of approval rose up, while I swallowed back the bile which rose in my throat at the sound of his insincerity. He’d inherited more than Marcus’s looks, it appeared.
“Shall we begin?” I made my way to the head of the table, already feeling more myself now that I’d established ownership over the events at hand.
“Yes, we shall.” Landon stood up again, when he had only just taken a seat. I barely refrained from rolling my eyes in disgust. “I want to discuss the murder of my father, which some of you witnessed yet did nothing to prevent. What’s being done to avenge this? I’ve gotten nowhere. I cannot even find my brother, who we all know to be guilty.”
“We don’t know that,” I reminded him, speaking above the murmurs his little show had inspired. “We saw Vance do it, I grant you, but it seems impossible that he was acting of his own volition. I happen to know that he was under the influence of Valerius, the Ancient One, at the time. The true killer was brought to justice.”
“And just how was that done?” Landon asked, glaring at me from halfway down the table. “I would like to know. I would’ve liked to be there when it transpired.”
“And I wish you had been, because you might have found some peace in knowing he would no longer inflict senseless pain on others.” Like the senseless pain which your father inflicted upon my family for generations. When he turned my mother after she rejected him. When he forced my parents into hiding for fear of our lives.
Will yawned—widely, loudly, for all to see and hear.
I bristled.
“That’s all well and good,” Will droned, “but what of my loss? What of my clan’s loss? And what of the retribution my clan is owed after the huge loss we sustained only days ago? Dozens of vampires, murdered in one fell swoop. By witches.”
Witches. My mouth went dry. “What makes you think it was witches?” I asked once the buzz of surprise quieted down.
“Who else could encase a person in ice but an elemental witch?” he asked. “Not to mention the one who brought down the tunnel. That tunnel stood for decades—nearly a century, in fact. Yet without the use of her hands, a witch brought it down onto the heads of so many of our kind. Vampires who only wished to stop these thieves in their tracks.”
More murmuring, this time with a bit of outrage. How were we supposed to protect ourselves from witches? How, when our powers were of little use compared to theirs? “If a pair of them could outwit and outfight dozens, what hope is there for any of us?” Will asked, stoking the flames of uncertainty and insecurity.
I held up my hands to signal for silence. Somehow, the meeting had gotten away from me. If I could’ve been said to control it in the first place. “We can address all of this. I have ideas of my own which pertain to witches, and to other non-human species. I feel as though we ought to address one topic at a time, however, so as to avoid endlessly circling the drain.”
I caught Landon’s eye. “First, let me say that I know what it means to lose a parent—by violent means, as well.” I looked to Will next. “No matter what your fathers did, they were your fathers, and I’m sorry for your loss. Truly. I hope we can work together to build something even stronger in the wake of their deaths.”
“What do you plan to do, then?” Will looked around the table. “I know we’re all eager to hear your plans for the League. If you intend to move forward in a leadership position, that is.”
The room went deathly silent, all eyes turned to me. They might have been collectively holding their breath. Waiting. Watching. Hanging on my every word.
Though I detested him, I had to give Lucian credit for keeping the League under control for so long.
“I would like to speak privately with you, and with Landon. Separately,” I added. “I believe there are issues which would best be settled away from the rest of the attendees.”
There was no mistaking the way their faces fell. They wanted to be part of this. No better in some ways than a bunch of gossiping old women.
“Are you sure this isn’t a stalling tactic?” a voice asked from further down the table. One of the Carver clan, of course. Always contrary.
“Now what reason would I have to stall?” I asked, leaning over the table. “I wish to settle matters privately, as men, rather than airing dirty laundry for all to see and hear. As I am still interim leader until the vote is cast to say otherwise, my decisions are final. Before we can move forward, the air needs clearing. Are there any further objections?” I asked, looking around.
Wishing someone would dare speak out against me. I nearly craved the chance to go toe-to-toe with one of them. Was this how Lucian felt all the time? Little wonder he was such a hardened monster.
Then again, he’d been a monster long before joining the League.
“May I see you first, please?” I asked Landon, turning away before he had the chance to react. I wasn’t asking, though it may have appeared that way. I was telling him how it was going to be.
I’d known this was coming and was prepared to compromise where the need arose. I would behave as a leader did, which meant giving in every once in a while. I’d done it for decades as head of the clan, after all. This was hardly different.
“Have a seat.” I gestured to a chair near the fire, its flames added much-needed warmth to the cold room. It seemed there wasn’t a corner of the immense structure that wasn’t touched by chill.
I sat across from him, on the other side of the hearth.
He surprised me by speaking first. “What is it you’ve brought me in here to discuss?” he asked, sounding almost bored.
“Straight to the point,” I observed wryly. “Fair enough. I need your backing out there. I want to know there is no bad blood between us, and that our clans can now work together to create a stronger future.”
He blinked rapidly, taking this in. “And just why would I want to align myself with you?”
“For one, we both know I’ll be voted in out there unless either you or Will does something to upset the process. However, I have grave doubts as to whether either of you could manage the votes needed to take my place.” I spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Straight to the point, right?”
He snickered. “You’re bluffing. How do you know I wouldn’t get the necessary votes?”
“For one thing, your father had a great many enemies in the League. We both know this. He was who he was, and you’re not like him—but who is aware of that, outside your clan? No one. You’ll be seen as nothing more than a copy of your father if you try to undercut me out there.”
He studied me, his pale eyes looking me up and down. “You’re a bit smarter than I gave you credit for.”
“And you’re quite astute,” I granted him. “You have a great deal of responsibility on y
our shoulders, and I don’t envy you. When my parents… died,” I choked out, knowing it was a lie, “I had no choice but to take my father’s place in the clan. It was overwhelming, to say the least. Sudden.”
“Very sudden,” Landon mused, lost in his own concerns.
“Until you prove yourself a strong leader among your kin, you will never be taken seriously as a contender in the League. Forgive me, but that’s as kindly as I can phrase it. I’ve been leading the Bourkes for decades, the League knows my name, my face. They know what to expect from me.”
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “Now, if there was a way for you to improve your standing, to prove yourself worthy of the position and one day take it for yourself, that would be another thing altogether. Wouldn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed. “What did you have in mind?”
He was interested. More than interested. He wanted power just as much as his father ever had, but he was cleverer and more willing to bide his time if need be. But he was also wise enough to conceal how deeply this intrigued him.
I could see straight through his guise, yet I still respected him for trying as a smile played over my lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
30
Gage
I could hardly believe my eyes. It was my father standing there, my father who had broken the door down—which meant he’d also dispatched the guards outside. “What are you doing here? How did you know where to find us?”
“There’s no time for that now,” he snarled. “I disconnected the video feed, so there’s no way for them to see us, but once they realize what I did, they’ll be down here to check on you. We have to run.”
Cari held up her arm, which was attached to the bed by what amounted to a handcuff. “I’m attached.”
“Wait.” The gray-haired lab worker who’d only just finished cuffing Cari could barely croak, either from shock or terror. What had happened to the guards might well happen to her. “You can’t do this.”
“What would you prefer?” I snarled. “That he do to you what he did to the others? Give me the keys to the restraints. Now!” I snapped when she hesitated.
Fane kept watch at the door as I unlocked Cari’s wrist.
“All right, let’s go,” she breathed, her eyes sparkling over flushed cheeks.
“Just a minute.” I was a bit rougher than I strictly needed to be when I took the human by the arm and locked her to the bed. She would see how it felt to be restrained.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, struggling against the chain while I tossed the keys across the room, where she had no hope of reaching them.
“Just in case you decide to go running to your boss.”
“Don’t leave me here,” she pleaded, her eyes large behind those thick glasses of hers. They swam with tears.
“What? Afraid of getting into trouble for letting us escape? You’re lucky I don’t bleed you dry.” I took Cari’s hand and joined the others at the door.
The woman wept pitifully behind us, but she mattered roughly as much as the two dead guards on the floor in the hall.
“We owe you everything,” Raze said, holding Naomi’s hand and guiding her past the guards’ dead bodies. Once we were at the end of the hall, there was a choice of either going right or left down identical corridors with doors up and down their length.
“Follow me. Stay close, and don’t ask questions. Be as quiet as you can.” Fane didn’t look back at us before turning left and dashing across the tile floor. It wasn’t easy to keep up, all of us being as weak and underfed as we were.
It must have been our survival instincts that kept us moving—at least, that was the case for me. I’d come close to losing my life back there and might still lose it if we didn’t make the most of this opportunity. I made a point of ignoring a pair of high-heeled feet sticking out from an open door along the way, and pulled Cari along with me.
So he’d fought his way to us, then. He cared that much.
“There’s a set of stairs here,” he explained as we reached a metal door at the end of the hall. “At the top is another door which leads outside, to one of the gardens alongside the compound. Stay together, close to the wall. It’s dark, there should be shadow enough to conceal you.”
I tightened my grip on Cari’s hand, our palms sweating, before darting through the open door and up the stairs. “I’ll follow,” Fane promised. “Get them outside, I’ll be right behind you.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. My feet flew up the stairs, which seemed to never come to an end, stretching on and on. My legs felt like lead, but I managed to keep them moving. I was close to doubting my father’s instructions when a door appeared only a half-dozen steps away.
I pushed the door open and sighed at the touch of fresh, cool air on my skin. How I had missed fresh air, and how I had always taken it for granted. It was dark, as Fane had promised, likely midnight or not much later.
I followed his instructions further, pressing myself close to the wall while waiting for everyone else to catch up.
We were on the side of the compound furthest from the rear wall, where we’d first watched Gil climb into his car and ride to his dinner meeting. An entire lifetime had passed since that night, or it may as well have. How naïve we’d been, but we hadn’t known of Gil’s true nature.
“Go on,” Fane hissed, waving at me as he closed the door. “There are guards on duty, but I… took care of a few of them on the way in. If you’re fast enough, you should be able to get over the wall before anyone can catch us.”
If we were fast enough. I wasn’t sure even life-or-death stakes could make me move that quickly. Coursing was out of the question. None of us had fed nearly enough over the length of our imprisonment. They’d kept us weak on purpose.
We stayed in the shadows while running alongside the building, sliding between stucco walls and shrubbery whenever possible to conceal ourselves better. Once we reached the end of the wall, I peered out around the corner and found that we’d reached the rear patio, the pergola which stretched over it wrapped in twinkling lights which sparkled off the reflection of the pool just beyond.
No one would have guessed what horrors existed inside such a lavish estate.
Taking Cari’s hand again, I took off at a run. There were trees to hide behind and beneath, sprinkled here and there over the carefully maintained land inside the stone walls, but between them were wide-open stretches of grass which would leave us vulnerable to detection.
I darted to the first grouping of trees, then the next. My heart hammered out of control, and the air which I pulled into my lungs burned its way through me, my body unaccustomed to the exertion. The grass was damp with fresh rain, leaving it dangerously slick.
Naomi let out a strangled cry behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder to find her falling, her feet slipping from under her. Fane caught her halfway down and kept an arm around her waist for support as they joined us.
“Wait a moment,” he advised, looking back toward the compound. We hadn’t put nearly enough distance between it and ourselves, though it felt like we’d been running for hours.
“Are they coming?” Raze asked, leaning against the tree, breathing hard. Except for Fane, we were all in the same shape. Naomi looked to be favoring her left ankle. As if we needed further reason to slow down.
“I don’t think so,” Fane decided. “We have to keep moving now. Hurry.”
He and Raze held Naomi between them, practically carrying her as we darted to the next group of trees roughly fifty feet away. I’d never felt so exposed as I did during those crucial moments when there was nothing but thin air between us and the watchful eyes of guards on patrol.
“I’m so tired!” Cari gasped, still holding my hand. So long as she didn’t let go. We would make it, I knew we would.
“We just have to keep going!” I whispered. “Don’t let go. Just keep moving.”
The sudden, blinding glare of lights surrounded us, turning night to day. I held
my arm over my eyes, unable to take another step, squinting and blinking and struggling to see. My heart sank like a rock. They’d spotted us.
“Halt!” The rapid tat-tat-tat of gunfire split the air, making us huddle together, staying low for fear of being hit.
“Leave this to me!” my father barked. “Stay behind me if you can, and I’ll take care of them!”
“What are you going to do?” Cari screamed over the sound of more gunfire, and the pounding of feet as what sounded like a herd of elephants ran across the grounds toward us.
“He knows what he’s doing,” I shouted in her ear, holding her close to me and hoping what I said was true. That my father was in control of the situation.
He was. The first of the guards reached us and lifted his rifle as if intending to bring it down on Fane’s head. Poor fool. My father, now a warlock, sent the guard flying backward as if he’d bounced off an invisible rubber wall. It was the same effect as a bowling ball striking pins, at least a dozen guards falling in all directions as he tore through them.
Another one reached us, aiming to fire. Raze threw himself over Naomi, and I did the same with Cari, watching as Fane grasped the rifle and used it to pull the man closer. In an instant, the man’s head turned backward, and he collapsed like a ton of bricks.
“Carissa!” Here came Gil, marching toward us, paying no mind to the bodies all around him.
Fane let out a dark, murderous chuckle. “Gil Rivera,” he spat, raising his hands as he prepared to truly do damage.
I didn’t know she would do it—though, really, I should have guessed, and I should have held onto her with all my might.
Instead, she freed herself from my relaxed grip and threw herself in front of her father, whose men stood behind him.
“No! You can’t!” she pleaded, eyes wide with terror. “You can’t kill my father!”
31
Cari
