by T. A. White
His eyes held a warning, as if telling me to keep my mouth shut about being able to see magic. For now, I’d listen. Mostly, because I was too tired to do otherwise.
"You need more blood," he said in a decisive voice before I could say anything else, rolling up his sleeve.
I turned my head away when he held his wrist up to my lips. I know he'd lost way more blood than me in the last twenty-four hours, and though weak, I wasn't at death's threshold. "I'm fine."
“Aileen,” he snapped.
The door on the other side of me opened, and Thomas climbed in, pulling it shut behind him and taking a seat beside me. He looked at the two of us, noting the frustrated expression on Liam's face and the mulish one on mine. He guessed the cause in moments. "You either take blood from Liam, or you take blood from me. Your choice."
My expression turned even more stubborn as he quirked an eyebrow at me, making it clear he wasn't going to budge on this. I had a sudden vision of being held down with one of them forcing my mouth open as the other dripped blood into it and knew that I would be on the losing end of any struggle. Faced with drinking under my own volition or being forced into it, I took the path that would at least leave me with some modicum of dignity.
Liam was smart enough not to let a smile cross his face when I turned to him, though there was a certain smug light in his eyes that made me want to throat punch him. He tugged me so that I was leaning back against his chest and facing Thomas, one of Liam's arms a snug band around my chest while he held the other to my lips.
"Drink, Aileen," he rumbled in my ear.
My fangs snapped down and I sank them into his skin, relishing the soft pop as they pierced his flesh, then the dark taste of his blood as it coated my tongue—better than chocolate, more decadent than the most delicious of desserts, aged to perfection and dancing across my senses with a maestro's expertise. My eyes slid shut as heat suffused my core, spreading with a lulling fire throughout my body, waking up parts of me that had long been ignored.
There was a heavy groan in my ear, one echoed by my moan moments later. I could feel him harden against my back where I pressed against him. I wiggled back, relishing the power it gave me when he muttered a curse in another language, the arm around my waist briefly tightening.
"That's enough, acushla." His voice was a tickle against my neck as he gently pulled his wrist away.
I opened my eyes as his thumb caressed my bare stomach in a gentle movement, sweeping back and forth as I returned to myself. Thomas watched us with an enigmatic gaze, his chin propped on his hand and his fingers tapping at his lips. The lassitude that had taken over my limbs was slow to fade. It was like I was a lion gorged on a good meal, nothing seemed too important.
"This is an interesting development," Thomas finally said to Liam over my head.
My guard snapped down, and I stiffened and would have drawn away if Liam hadn't held me close, his warm embrace suddenly turning tight.
Whatever gaze they exchanged must have spoken volumes because Thomas didn't make any further comments, his gaze dropping to mine.
"Now that I see the yearling is safe and fed, I think it's time to take care of that other matter," he said, his face a polite mask.
"Theo," I said. It wasn't much of a guess. I could think of no other reason for Thomas to be here.
One side of his lips quirked up in answer.
Damn.
"He's probably close," I said. "He planned to kill Caroline after she'd taken care of me and collapsed into a coma after her shift back."
He wouldn't want to be far away, but he also couldn't be too close without risking her turning her focus to him.
"Yes, there's a cabin not far from here that his master used to own," Thomas said in an amused voice.
"Makoto is a hacker," Liam said in answer to my unvoiced question. "When pointed in the right direction, he was able to uncover a lot of very interesting information."
Eric got into the driver's seat, Anton by his side in the passenger seat. It was odd to see someone other than Nathan in that spot. Anton didn't turn to address any of us, staring forward with a fixed expression.
"What do you plan to do with Theo when you find him?" I asked, looking away from the enforcers as we began to move.
Thomas’s face turned amused. "What do you think I have planned?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking," I said in a measured voice. My fear was that Thomas would do exactly as Theo wanted, turn him into a vampire. If he did that, I very much suspected Theo would bide his time until he could act against Thomas. Eventually, he would come after me, and I would never be safe.
"What do you want to have happen to him?" Thomas asked, his head tilting in question.
I wanted him dead. He'd killed multiple people, and he'd planned mine and Caroline's deaths, not to mention almost sacrificed his sister when she tried to help us. He was a psychotic killer. Making him a vampire wouldn't change that. It would just make him a more efficient killer.
I didn't know if Thomas would see it my way. Though the relation was long ago, Theo was Thomas’s descendant. How would I feel two hundred years from now if I was in Thomas’s shoes and it was Jenna's great, great grandson facing judgment? Would I still feel an attachment to that long-ago family?
Liam's hands tightened briefly in warning around my waist.
"He's Steven's creation," I finally said. "And he's responsible for at least two deaths that I know of, though I suspect you'll find many more that can be lain at his feet."
"And?" Thomas arched an eyebrow.
Vampires didn't have the same attachment to life I had. At his age, Thomas alone was probably responsible for more deaths than I could count.
"He tried to kill me," I said, lifting my chin. "I want him dealt with in a very permanent way."
A part of me broke at that request. I wasn't the sort to solve my problems with violence, and basically asking for someone's death went against the human part of me I tried to cling to. I saw no alternative. Next time Theo might not be content to plot against just me. He might go after Jenna or her daughter. I couldn't risk my family, and if it meant sacrificing some of my humanity to ensure their safety, so be it. Every soldier knows they might have to sacrifice a life in defense of their country.
"What will you give me for this outcome?" Thomas asked, an anticipatory expression on his face.
I opened my mouth and then closed it, meeting his stare with one of my own. That was what Liam had been trying to warn me about. That's what all his questions had been leading toward. Tricky, tricky vampire.
"Nothing," I said with a note of finality.
Anton's head turned slightly before he directed his attention forward.
"Nothing?" Thomas looked amused. "You're not very good at bargaining."
I arched one eyebrow, not allowing his words to shake me. "It’s in your best interest for you to take care of the matter permanently."
"Oh?" His lips curved.
"Yes, your enemy did a very good job convincing him you were the problem. Theo has a very developed victim complex, and in his eyes, you're the source of all the wrong in his world. How long do you think it will be before he starts plotting against you?" Answer: Immediately. "I know vampires are very long-lived. It may be centuries before he sets his plans in motion. I bet you never even see it coming because he will have utterly convinced you of his loyalty."
"You don't have much faith that I can sway him to my side," Thomas returned, a half-smile on his face.
I snorted. "Please, I've seen your methods of persuasion. They need a lot of work."
That surprised a soft chuckle out of him.
"Whatever he might have been, whoever he could have been, died as soon as Steven got hold of him," I said, my expression serious. "He tried to sacrifice his own sister for his plans. This isn't someone you can ever trust. You'll need to watch your back around him for all of eternity and never show him any weakness. Is that really the kind of person you want on your side?"
He made a 'hmm' sound and turned away, not answering my question. My lips tightened. Fine. If I needed to find a way to end the threat Theo presented, I would.
"Also, you give him what he wants, and you can kiss goodbye any chance of ever persuading me to your side," I added as an afterthought, letting him see how serious I was. For whatever reason, Thomas still thought he could win my loyalty. It might not be much, but the possibility of my endorsement was all I had to bargain with.
He didn't respond beyond a thoughtful glance my way.
We turned onto a dirt road, the car jostling on the uneven path. A cabin sat between the trees up ahead, rundown and looking like it was one stiff wind from falling apart. It was the type of place that would have been right at home in a slasher film.
The Escalade came to a halt, and Eric and Anton got out of the car, the doors slamming at the same time they appeared on the porch. I started to shift so I could get out when Liam's arms tightened around me.
"Let them handle it," he said in a soft voice.
I settled, seeing the logic in that. Though his super blood had energized me, helping the wounds heal at double the speed they had before, I was still tired, hurting, and mentally exhausted. If he wanted his enforcers to do all the heavy lifting, I wasn't going to argue.
Moments later, Eric appeared in the doorway with Anton behind him, dragging Theo with a firm grip around the neck. The human in his hands was bloodied and bruised, one eye turning black, and his cheek swollen—his arm bent at a weird angle.
Thomas shoved out of the car.
"Why don't you wait here?" Liam suggested when I tried to follow.
"It was me he tried to kill. I want to see what happens to him," I said. If Thomas granted him mercy, if they let him escape unscathed, I wanted to know—one way or another.
Anton threw Theo to the ground at Thomas’s feet, the human flopping down in an ungraceful heap.
"I'm disappointed great, grandnephew," Thomas said in an amiable voice. "If you wanted my attention, you only needed to ask."
Theo lifted a tear stained face from the ground. "He broke my arm."
Thomas lifted an eyebrow at Anton who gazed back at him with a stone-faced expression, no hint of remorse on it. "Did he now? Well, you can't really blame him. You did kill his companion."
"That wasn't my fault. Lisa was only supposed to scare her, but she fell and hurt herself. Lisa lost control."
"Liar," I said, stepping forward. Vengeance beating in my chest. Red tinged the world around me as I felt my vampire side take over. That side wanted to rip out his intestines and make him watch as I knitted a quilt out of them—a human intestine quilt, bloody and awful.
Liam caught me and pulled me back, murmuring soothing words into my hair.
"It's not true," Theo said when Thomas glanced back at me. Desperation tinged his voice. "It was an accident. I was hoping to help you by exposing Caroline for the menace she is."
"By starting a war?" Thomas asked, his voice silky. I shivered at the predator I heard there, one that I knew lay within me too.
Theo shook his head. "No, we were just trying to show where Aileen's loyalties lay, and how she would betray you for her friend. I was trying to help. Perhaps I went about it in the wrong way, but I've only ever wanted your esteem."
I hissed, the sound that of a pissed off mountain lion. This little ass. He was trying to lay the blame on me.
Thomas considered him, his thoughts hidden behind the genial mask he wore. "Why didn't you come to me when you first realized you were my descendant? You must know descendants are given first priority for the kiss."
Theo blinked and looked taken aback, some of the smugness wiped from his face. "I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. You must know that Steven raised me." He got a crafty look on his face. "He had a hand in Aileen's arrival in your world as well. I can tell you about it if you'd like."
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Liam's arms became steel traps. "Don't move," he rasped in my ear. "Wait."
I settled down, meeting Thomas’s gaze as calmly as I could, given Theo's little lie. Thomas studied me with an unwavering expression. It was a mystery how much stock he was putting in his grand nephew's words. I stood my ground and straightened my shoulders. If this meant my death, I was going to do it standing, unafraid.
"I believe you are owed a blood debt, Anton. Do what you will with him," Thomas said, his eyes never leaving mine.
Anton's fangs snicked down, a feral expression taking hold. Gone was the emotionless warrior, in his place was wrath given form.
"What?" Theo's eyes widened with real fear, and he struggled to his feet. He didn't make it further than his knees before Anton stomped down hard down on one leg. The crack of a bone reached me as Theo let out a high, thin wail.
Thomas looked back at him, unruffled, his expression unchanging except for a sly amusement that tugged at the corners of his eyes. "I am not such a fool as to believe the lies of one such as you. I'm glad my brother is long dead. He would weep to know such a pathetic specimen came from his line." Thomas looked at Anton. "You have until sunrise. Make sure he doesn't see the light of the morning sun."
Anton inclined his head in a formal bow. Thomas acknowledged it with a flick of his fingers before turning his back on Theo as he started screaming for mercy.
"Let's go. You don't need to see this next part." Liam didn't wait for my agreement, turning me and guiding me to the car, his hold firm.
Theo's screams followed us, the kind that I would hear in my nightmares, the kind that would haunt me for years to come. That piece of humanity I thought I was willing to part with, I wanted it back, even knowing it was too late now.
We got into the car, Thomas climbing into the front passenger seat as Eric took the driver's seat. We didn't say anything as we drove off, leaving Anton and his victim in the clearing.
"You were right about him," Thomas said as he stared out the window.
I turned my head to look at him but didn't say anything.
"He would have betrayed me in the end." I didn't know if the words were meant for me or for himself. "There was no other choice."
I took that to mean the decision regarding Theo's life had been a hard-fought one—up in the air until Thomas spoke with him. I went back to staring out the window as the car sped down the twisting road. I didn't know how I felt about that, or if I had any right to feel anything.
It was over. I had survived. That would have to be enough for now.
*
Two days after the full moon, I followed Sondra into the basement of Lou's Bar, my footsteps echoing harshly on the stairs as we descended. I’d slept for most of that time, exhausted from my trials. My sleep hadn’t been peaceful, instead interrupted by the voices of the dead. Even though I’d managed to save Caroline, I felt like I’d lost a large piece of myself by leaving Theo to die. It was an irrational feeling, but then feelings often were.
Events after Caroline’s fall from the cliff had unfolded exactly as Liam predicted. The wolves had chased Caroline to ground and battled each other the entire night, until Caroline collapsed into her post-shift coma shortly after sunrise. Once they’d come back to themselves, Caroline had been taken into custody
The only thing left to do was recover, gather our strength, and find a more palatable solution for Caroline’s dilemma.
I reached the bottom of the stairs, noticing the silver cages that rimmed the perimeter of the room. Only two of them were occupied. Caroline sat on the hard ground, facing the stairs as she looked out from behind the bars with a dead expression on her face. Lisa glared from a cage across from her.
I stopped at the sight of Caroline, momentarily off balance. Except for a few bruises that already looked weeks old, she looked unharmed. Physically, at least. Mentally and emotionally she looked bereft, as if she had lost that spark that made her Caroline.
"What did you do to her?" I hissed in a low voice at Sondra.
"Nothing. She's been lik
e that since she woke up in here." Sondra looked upset about that fact. "She's not eating or drinking. She refuses to talk to any of us. I hoped you could get through to her."
So, that's why they let me down here with minimal argument when I showed up at Lou's. I thought I'd have to call in a few dozen favors to get this chance, but they'd shocked me by being reasonable for once.
Sondra watched her with sad, regretful eyes. "I don't understand this. Her wolf seemed to accept us toward the end."
"Perhaps it has something to do with being locked in another cage." My voice was acerbic.
She didn't respond to that.
“What do you plan to do with her?” I asked. “Last we spoke, you and Brax were entertaining the idea of putting her down.”
Sondra looked unsettled, her gaze going to Caroline. “That’s over now. I don’t know what happened that night, but her wolf has settled. She’s not experiencing the unstable shifts that were a side effect of the demon taint. Her bite has also become less deadly. Now that her wolf sees him as her alpha, Brax is able to exert some control over her. It has bought us some breathing room.”
That was very good news. Thomas had been most interested to learn about the wolf whose bite was lethal to all. Such a weapon in his hands would have meant bad things for any who opposed him. With that out of the equation, it meant Caroline could be a normal werewolf.
It did beg the question of whether any of Caroline’s stabilization stemmed from what I had done to the snarl of burnt umber and pitch-black webbing I’d seen in Caroline’s chest when she attacked me. Even now, it lay pliant and smooth, the strands of magic looking almost harmonious. Whatever I had done that night seemed to remain.
Caroline's eyes shifted to me. "Have you come to break me out?"
I stepped forward and stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Not exactly."
"Figures," she snorted.
"You're not eating?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem very bright."
She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "Haven't been hungry."
"They tell me you're not talking either."
