Cold Blooded jm-3

by Amanda Carlson

  “We have to get—”

  Jessica! Rourke roared into my mind with a ferocity I hadn’t heard before. The sound was massive, his voice aching with emotion. Where the fuck are you?

  The barrier was indeed down and the lines of communication were now open.

  I’m here, Rourke. I’m in the Reliquary behind the house. I just broke the Queen’s ward. I motioned to Naomi and pointed upward. After all that noise, the guards and whoever Eudoxia had protecting her would be on us. It was almost dusk and we needed to move.

  Naomi nodded. She shot up and I followed, springing off the wall, my hands grabbing the edge of the open skylight. I swung my body and hoisted myself out onto the roof in one motion.

  Tell me you’re okay, Rourke continued. That explosion was huge. It rocked the entire area.

  I’m fine. Just leaving now. Where are you?

  I’m standing in a cell, and I’ve got a withered vampire by the throat, he growled. He claims he helped you escape. I’m two seconds shy of tearing his heart out.

  He did help me. Don’t hurt him. Let them both go. I picked my way along the roof, stepping over the broken skylights.

  Fine, they go free. Stay where you are and I’ll find you.

  “Jessica!” Tyler yelled. “Over here.”

  I turned and glanced down. My brother and Danny stood by a crypt. Tyler waved his arms. It was clear they’d been trying to tear into it but hadn’t had much luck. I rested my hand above my eyes and scanned the yard. There were hundreds of tombs and structures spread out behind the mansion. It was a real New Orleans graveyard.

  And I’d just been in the underground network connecting them.

  Rourke, I’m heading down into the cemetery. Tyler and Danny are here. I’m going to meet them. I motioned to Naomi. “Let’s join the boys down there,” I said to her. “Rourke is on his way—”

  “Fool,” the Queen’s voice shrilled. My head snapped toward the mansion. Her voice ended on a shriek. “You’ve ruined everything!”

  20

  My gaze landed on Naomi. Before we could figure out what to do, there was another scream. It came from the house, and it was decisively the Queen’s, followed a moment later by Valdov’s murderous cackle.

  Naomi ran down the slope and took off into the air. “We must get the cross back,” she called. “If he kills the Queen, the vampires will be thrown into chaos.”

  Without thinking, I took off after her.

  It was nice not to have to make the decision this time. And Naomi was right—if Valdov took control, it would be very bad indeed. The Queen had honor and played by the rules of supernatural negotiation—they were her rules, and worked in her favor most of the time, but she played them well. If Valdov ruled, there was a chance the vamps would side with the demons, and my Pack, along with many other supernaturals, would be in serious trouble.

  The Reliquary sat fifty feet from the mansion, but there was a long portico that jutted from the back of the house. The portico roof looked big enough to hold me. It was a reasonable distance away—“reasonable” being the operative word. My wolf urged me along, agreeing wholeheartedly with getting rid of Valdov. We have to make this jump in one leap. There’s no other way. I took off running and leapt, soaring into the air. I connected with the roof, my claws digging in, splintering boards and dislodging shingles as my hands slid. I finally stopped my momentum by latching on to the gutters. I hung there precariously for a few beats.

  Jess, what the hell are you doing? my brother yelled in my mind. I had to block out the rest of his protests, which were entering my brain rapid-fire, to focus on not falling. Both his and Danny’s footfalls raced toward me.

  I swung a leg up and hoisted myself onto the small roof. Naomi had already entered through an open window. The mansion was made of big stone slabs, so there were enough footholds and crannies for me to shimmy up easily. I leapt onto the wall, moving at supernatural speed, my claws keeping me steady. I had to answer my brother’s protests. Tyler, I have to stop Valdov. He’s with the Queen. I can’t let him kill her.

  Fine, but we’re coming in right behind you.

  That’s what I’m hoping.

  As I neared the Queen’s chambers, her voice rang out. “You will not defeat me!” followed by a strangled scream.

  We go straight in, I told my wolf. No waiting. There was an open window around the corner of the turret, but we were going to take the closest route.

  I hit the casing above a closed window, latching on to the stone siding above me. In the next breath I let go, plunging down, grabbing on to the upper windowsill, my legs bursting feetfirst through the leaded glass.

  One second before I crashed through the panes, I heard four words.

  “Now you must die.”

  The glass exploded spectacularly and I landed in a low crouch, fists up, my wolf on high alert.

  “You’re too late, mongrel.” Valdov’s precise voice hit my eardrum the instant before I sprang.

  My brain took in the scene around me as I lunged, the Queen in her bed, blood everywhere, Naomi crumpled on the floor. My hands came around his neck as I snarled, “We’ll see about that, asshole.” My vocal cords were taut, my words strained. I knocked him to the floor in one motion, my knees pinning him across the chest.

  Valdov chuckled beneath me, barely trying to fight back. “She’s already dead! You’re too late. I can feel the beautiful power transferring to me already.” He took a big, satisfied breath and grinned in a way that made him look like the Joker. “Ahh, it’s taken much too long to gain what was rightfully mine. Once I have the power, I will be the greatest Vampire King the world has ever seen, and I will kill you where you stand. You will be no match for me.”

  This couldn’t be happening. The Queen couldn’t be dead.

  My eyes found Eudoxia. She was chained to her bed, covered in silver links, her body smoking, Naomi’s cross stuck halfway out of her chest.

  Her head hung at an odd angle.

  She can’t regenerate with that thing inside her. We have to pull it out before it’s too late for her to recover. My wolf snapped her jaws, throwing up a picture of us ripping Valdov’s head cleanly off his body. We will, but we don’t have time to do both. By the time the power transfers completely from her to him, it will be too late. Valdov would put up too much of a fight right now.

  Choosing to save the Queen, I jumped up and ran. But before I could reach her, I flew through the air. My back crashed into a wall, expensive drapes exploding all around me.

  Valdov grinned like a fiend. “I am not weak, you filthy little beast! I can catch you. And you will not win, because you cannot save her.” He spread his arms and tilted his creepy ivory face toward the ceiling, inhaling, his perfectly sculpted nostrils flaring. “Can you feel it? It’s magnificent and so very intoxicating. And it’s all mine.”

  I did feel the power, and unfortunately Valdov was right; it was swirling around the room searching for its next host. When the head of a Sect died, the power itself chose the new ruler, which was usually the strongest and most capable. In our world, the Alpha’s power transferred to the next wolf, but that wolf would be immediately challenged for it. An Alpha werewolf still had to prove himself physically.

  No vampire would be challenging Valdov.

  I had to stop this.

  Squatting, I readied myself to lunge toward the Queen, but before I could move, Valdov locked his eyes on me. He was fully vamped out, cheeks waxy, eyes full black, fangs pierced down like swords over his bottom lip. His irises flashed silver, pinning me with their intensity. He knew my next move, but I had to try anyway. I sprang forward in a burst of speed, but I wasn’t fast enough. Valdov intercepted me and we tumbled to the ground again.

  He hissed in my ear. “Little mongrel, oh, how I would love to drain you right now.” His fangs brushed the side of my neck, drawing a line of blood as they scratched along the surface of my skin.

  I arched back, out of his grasp, bringing my fist up and slamming it i
nto his trachea. He sputtered, trying to recover, but I held him by the shoulders, my claws digging in.

  We rolled twice on the floor.

  He was strong.

  But I was stronger.

  We hit the far wall right as Tyler jumped through the window I’d broken. I’d never been so happy to see anyone in my life. “Get to the Queen!” I yelled. “Yank the cross out of her chest.”

  Tyler didn’t hesitate. He ran to the Queen’s bedside as Danny tumbled into the room behind him.

  Valdov hissed, “I doesn’t matter. It’s too late. I will be King.” Power swirled in a heavy cloud around Valdov, his body vibrating as it absorbed the magic.

  “Tyler, hurry!”

  Valdov reared up beneath me, snapping at my neck, his face awful this close. His eye sockets were sunken and the bones in his face were stretched outward. His white, chalky, paper-thin skin didn’t look like they could contain them any longer.

  “I did it,” Tyler said. “I pulled the damn cross out, but nothing’s happening. She’s not healing! Her neck is completely severed.”

  Valdov cackled. “I told you. It is done.”

  “It’s not over yet,” I snarled. “My guess is if the magic has a choice, it would still choose Eudoxia.” I yelled, “Vamps aren’t like us. They’re already dead. They don’t need communication to the brain. Put her neck back together and give her your blood.” I was banking on the fact she could regenerate with his blood. I’d learned the hard way with Eamon. I thought I’d killed him by breaking his neck, but he had healed after drinking from Ray.

  Tyler’s face hardened.

  I nodded, urging him on. “Tyler, you have to do this or Valdov will be the new King. We can’t risk it. I’d feed her myself, but I can’t give her my blood.”

  Valdov struggled in earnest beneath me and my claws dug deeper into his shoulders. He hadn’t expected us to feed his former Queen. “That’s right,” I growled. “You underestimated what we would be willing to do. And for that, you lose.”

  Tyler ripped his sleeve open and bit into his wrist.

  Valdov’s cruel nails found my face. He raked them over my cheek, and blood poured down my face. I batted his hands away and bared my teeth. “Do you see this? This is me ending you.” I switched control to my wolf and our hands locked around his neck, our power pressing him tightly to the floor.

  “Little … mongrel … you cannot…” Valdov hissed as he thrashed.

  From the bed, the Queen gasped, her chest bowing upward. There was a tremor below me as the magic began to leave Valdov, his body weakening as I held on.

  The Queen’s arms flung to the side as the magic shot back into her.

  Tyler stepped back, running a hand over his face. It was the second time in his life he’d been required to feed a vampire. And he had my undying admiration and love for it. It was no small thing for a wolf to aid a vamp.

  “No,” Valdov insisted. “I will be King—” His body convulsed as the last of the magic left him, transferring back to its true sovereign.

  “Looks like you won’t be after all,” I said, my hands tightening around his throat. “You shouldn’t feel bad, though, because if you were indeed more powerful than Eudoxia, the magic would’ve stayed inside you. You were never meant to rule, Valdov, and I’m happy to make sure it stays that way.”

  My wolf snapped her jaws and twisted. Valdov’s scream was lost as the door to Eudoxia’s bedroom burst off its hinges.

  Rourke roared as he lunged into the room, his eyes blazing, his body primed for a fight.

  But the deed was already done.

  I sat back on my haunches and tossed Valdov’s head away in disgust, taking a few deep breaths. The gruesome killing requirement of this job sucked, but there was no other way around it. “There has to be an easier way to do this,” I said.

  Rourke was to me in three steps.

  He yanked Valdov’s body by the arm and sent it flying across the room, well away from me. Then he drew me up off the floor. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I was on my way to the Reliquary.” He tipped my head back gently with his fingertip, searching my eyes. “Downstairs, the house is in an uproar. Whatever you did by blowing up the ward opened a Pandora’s box of shit and everyone is in a panic. The vamps are all freaked because they think Eudoxia is dead. We have to get out of here.”

  I nodded over his shoulder. “We can’t leave until we finish this.”

  Rourke followed my gaze.

  The Queen was still bound to her bed with silver cuffs and she was furious. Tyler stood back with his arms crossed. Danny and Naomi stood off to the side. I was happy to see Naomi was up. Valdov must have hit her hard.

  Rourke gave me a small kiss and let me go. I moved around him and walked toward the Queen.

  “This is your fault,” she spat as I came closer, her eyes a dead black, her fangs inching their way down slowly. “You’ve brought chaos down on the House of Vampires, as predicted, and I will enjoy tearing out your spine for it.” She ended on a hateful hiss and shook her chains, blood oozing out of her wrists.

  I didn’t kill her arch nemesis so she could pour on more of the same bullshit.

  “I just saved you,” I ground out, my hands balled. “I killed Valdov by ripping his head off. You remember him, don’t you? Your faithful advisor who almost succeeded in killing you not five minutes ago? In our world that means you owe me. A life for a life.” I walked up to the bedside. “I get anything I ask for. Swear it, or I’ll kill you where you lie.”

  Loathing consumed her features, her eyes oscillated between silver and black, and her cheekbones slid as she fought for control. Her power was not back at one hundred percent and I could end her life easily. She was one pissed-off Vampire Queen and I didn’t give a shit. “Fine,” she raged, her fangs snapping down completely, needle sharp. “I swear to you one favor, but only because my honor demands it. But once the debt is settled, we are mortal enemies, you and I. Do not forget it.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.” I grinned, putting my face next to hers. “You will be required to fulfill the favor immediately, Eudoxia, so settling the debt won’t be a problem. Guess what’s on the way to your doorstep?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Demons. That’s right, the demons will be here at nightfall, which by the looks of it will be shortly. And the favor I want from you is protection.” Before she could form a retort, I held my hand up. “For one night only. When day breaks, I walk away. That’s it. It’s a small favor in return for avenging your death and killing a traitor.”

  “You are out of your mind.” She hissed. “I will not fight demons on your behalf!”

  “You will,” I said. “Or you die. Swear it.”

  Before she could answer, the door banged open and Conan the Enforcer came flying through the room yelling, “Get away from my Queen!”

  Rourke took one step into his path and leveled him with a clothesline to the throat. The look of surprise on Conan’s face was priceless. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, I might have chuckled. Conan’s trachea exploded as he soared back into the wall. He landed hard and crumpled to the ground, his body limp. Rourke moved toward him to make sure he stayed down.

  I motioned for Tyler and Danny to move out into the hallway to keep watch. We didn’t want any more vampires barging in. They moved soundlessly; Tyler’s anxiety bubbled in my blood while Danny’s jumped with excitement. I shook my head.

  I focused my attention back to the Queen. “Why don’t you have hundreds of vampires guarding you?”

  “My rooms are warded. They cannot find me here.”

  “You mean, before I broke your ward?”

  “Yes, you fool,” she shrilled as she tried to sit up, her chains rattling. Her elegant clothes were tattered and torn, the silver still burning her skin, leaking blood all over her gold satin sheets. “You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ve unleashed things kept from humans for centuries. I will not be able to undo all your recklessness. It will be impossible.” H
er eyes narrowed. “And if the demons ascend as you are saying, there is nothing I can do to keep them out. You have destroyed the only thing that would’ve kept us safe.”

  I inclined my head. “You said a minute ago that I brought chaos down on the House of Vampires, as predicted. Predicted by whom?”

  Her mouth snapped closed in a thin line, making her incisors look like they were sealed between her lips. “Get me out of these chains.”

  I crossed my arms. “You’re not really in a position to demand anything. Agree to my favor and I’ll let you go. I’m assuming the key is in Valdov’s pocket?”

  “I will not fight demons. What you ask will risk many lives, not just mine. I will not bargain away the lives of my flock for your protection. Demons are not sorcerers—they are a wicked breed. They will come to destroy everything in their path, nothing less.”

  “If they come to destroy, you and your flock will be in the middle of it anyway. You harbored me of your own free will,” I pointed out, dropping my voice. “Eudoxia, I know you can craft spells. I don’t know why, or what you are, but I know you have the power to protect us. We came here seeking that same protection for a reason. That’s what we bartered for when I arrived. That hasn’t changed.”

  “Everything has changed!” She yanked on her chains, causing plaster to fly from the walls as an evil snarl came out of her mouth. “I offered you protection and instead you wreaked havoc on my Coterie. I will not be subjected to—”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  She had the gall to look taken aback.

  “You ordered me into a cell with your uncle for a reason,” I challenged. “You gave me a lone guard I could’ve killed. The mighty chains you had me shackled to snapped off the wall at my merest tug. Yuri had a way out and he ominously told me he’d been waiting for me. My escape was no mistake.” I peered down at her, my eyes shrewd. “You knew Valdov was a spy, didn’t you? You also knew he would attack. You made yourself vulnerable at the right time and used me to kill him so you didn’t have to.”

  “I did no such thing,” she retorted. “My head was severed from my body. I would never allow it. He was my most trusted advisor and he turned on me, but only once you broke the ward. You did this!”