“Not now.” The vampire’s voice was closer, like he was standing next to her. “Pack her up and let’s go. If Horus survived, he’ll be tracking us.”
“There’s no way he did.”
Rose closed her eyes to stop the spinning. They wanted to run.
They were afraid.
Good. Ra couldn’t have left Horus and Seti alone, but these two didn’t know the brothers the way she did. Their anxiety and fear could work in her favor.
Jerking her head back, she summoned every bit of fight she had left. A wild thing, she kicked and hit and bit. Her boot slammed Dr. Stone square in the face. He cried out and fell backward, blood gushing from his nose.
The vampire sucked in a breath, his grip on her shoulders slackening as the scent of iron filled the room. Rolling, Rose hit the ground. He gripped her heel, but his fingers slid away as she crawled.
“Fuck!” the doctor cried out, his voice almost drowned out by a strange, building sound. “Focus, Ahron!”
Glancing over her shoulder, Rose made out the crouched form of the vampire—Ahron. Dr. Stone sat on the floor, one hand covering his nose. His gaze bounced between her and the vampire.
The blood. The scent of it was distracting him.
This was her chance. The room spun, and she lilted to one side as she sprinted to the front door.
“Ahron!”
The cool metal knob kissed the inside of her palm, but she was wrenched away and flung back toward the doctor.
With some part of her mind, she cataloged the sound of wood splitting as her body hit the wall and the quick snap of her bones breaking. She smelled her blood, and Dr. Stone’s, and the sharp iciness of the air from the open door.
She heard her breaths, quick and pained, as heat bloomed in her chest, then a low growl that built and built until it was the only thing she heard.
Next to her, Ahron landed on his knees, staring at the door. The look on his face, fear and awe, made her risk the pain of movement to turn her head.
The sun was bright, reflected off the millions of snowflakes falling from the sky. And it lit up around Ra like he was the very heart of it.
He was beautiful.
Terrifying.
His face was one for nightmares and epic stories to be told for the rest of human existence. If she had hoped Seti and Horus might live, that hope was snuffed out by Ra’s face. No man—unless he’d lost everything he loved—could look like that.
Ahron stared, and then, slowly, like his body was a sail unfurling, stood.
“Why?” he asked, and Rose wondered, why what? If this vampire was asking why Ra would kill him, that was a stupid question. “You could kill me with one thought.”
“I want you to fight,” Ra replied, voice barely above a rumble.
The vampire ran, but not toward Ra. He hit the back of the cabin, busting out the wall, then came to an abrupt stop.
“No running,” Ra said. “You wanted a fight. Now you have it.”
“My anger was for my creator, not you, Ra. We have no quarrel.”
Rose snorted, but stopped at the pain the intake of breath caused. Ahron must not have spent much time with the brothers, or else he had a very poor memory if he believed one brother would not avenge the other.
“Don’t move.” Ra’s voice in her head made her realize she’d been trying to get to her feet.
“I want to help.” Warmth covered her from head to toe, but it wasn’t just a sign of her healing. It was because he was here, with her. For her.
She had a sense of his frustration as she continued to struggle, but he had to understand, “You’re mine. I will help you.”
“Rose.” She hoped the sadness tinging his voice wasn’t real, but it had to be. “You have been the best, most incredible thing I’ve ever come across in my life.” His gaze, bright like the sun around him, met hers. “I love you.”
There was a rush of shadow, and Ra suddenly disappeared from sight, buried under masses of wiggling gray bodies and dead-eyed soldiers. The first wave he threw off. They flew in all directions, but came back, piling on top of him. “Stop!” she cried out. “Stop!”
And they did. Because they were hers.
They fell off, rolling away like rocks down a mountainside. Righting themselves, they stared at her, rapt.
Ra swayed on his feet as he stared at her. His neck was torn, his jacket and shirt hanging off of him in tatters. But he was alive.
His gaze cut toward one side, and she followed it. Dr. Stone crept toward the back wall, poised to jump out. The words left Rose before she realized what she was doing. “Kill him.”
Maybe later she’d feel guilty. She’d wish she turned him in to the cops or given him an opportunity to make amends. But today, two men she loved were dead, and the third was bleeding. So today, Dr. Stone could go to hell.
Rose wobbled as she got to her feet, ignoring the screams of the man who’d hurt her and the flood of creatures who hurried to do as she asked.
The floor creaked beneath her feet as she took a step toward Ra. She held out her hand, and he reached for it when something flew by her head, whipping her hair around her face and blinding her for a moment.
As the wind died, so did all of her hopes and dreams.
“Ra.”
He coughed, spraying blood down his chin and over the floor as he stared at the tree limb impaling his chest.
She could almost feel it inside of her, piercing her heart, draining away all the warmth and life from her. Ahron flashed by her, hands outstretched liked claws to finish the job he’d started.
“No.” This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t lose all of them. Not now that Dr. Stone was dead and she had crawlers and soldiers at her fingertips. “No! Stop!”
But she shouldn’t have counted Ra out. He caught Ahron before he could latch on, and flung him away. Then he gripped the end of the limb with both hands and yanked, flipping the limb so it pointed out.
Glancing at her, he nodded.
“Throw him back.” Was it cruel? Yes. Did she care? Absolutely not.
The soldiers caught Ahron, and like he’d done with her, they flung him toward Ra.
Who was ready.
Ahron gasped, fumbling with both hands to hold the limb that now pierced his heart. His dark eyes flicked to Ra, down to his chest, and back up.
As their gazes met, Ra sealed his fate. “Die.”
The effect of Ra’s words was instantaneous. Ahron’s skin turned gray, and his eyes rolled back. He collapsed onto the floor and in seconds, disintegrated into ash at Ra’s feet.
Rose didn’t spare him a second more of her attention. She stumbled to Ra, catching him as he fell to his knees. “No.”
He coughed. Blood landed on her lips and face, but she didn’t care. Through the hole in his clothes, she could see the wound in his chest. She made out the smooth pink of his muscle, and died a little when the organ inside his chest throbbed.
His heart. She could see his heart.
“Heal,” she told him, willing him to do what she knew he could, but he shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“That’s bullshit!” Ra could do whatever he put his mind to. If he told himself he couldn’t heal, then he wouldn’t. It was as simple as that. “Tell yourself to heal.”
“It doesn’t work that way.” The color leached from his skin. “Only you can save me.”
Her blood. “You’ll be mortal.”
“I’d rather live a short life than an immortal one without you.”
He had no idea how many pints of blood Dr. Stone had taken or how, even now, her head swam. Imagining the door between their minds closing, she shut away all those things. He didn’t need to know this could kill her.
She’d do anything for him to live.
Leaning so close they were nose-to-nose, she whispered, “Then bite. Live for us.”
His eyes closed, and she closed hers, feeling only the soft whisper of his breath over her skin. He kissed her neck, li
ght and brief, before he bit.
“No pain,” he whispered in her mind. It was a testament to her weakness that she allowed the command to take hold. Like the warmth she felt whenever she was in the guys’ presence, heat flooded her. She closed her eyes as he pulled against her veins. It was oddly soothing and sensual, a drawing forth that had her leaning into him more fully.
Or maybe that was just weakness.
“No pain,” she sent the thought back to Ra, wishing she could make it so. His pain would be tripled when he ingested her blood. It would burn him, paralyze him, but hopefully, it would heal him.
After a moment, his head fell back against the wood floor with a soft thunk. Rose studied him, watched his face turn from sallow back to tan. His eyes were closed, and she wondered if they’d be as gold as his skin.
Something nearby moved, its rotting gray form approaching curiously. She lashed out. “Get out of here! All of you! Run away, far from everything!”
The crawler hissed, but backed away, doing exactly what she commanded. When it disappeared from sight, the last of her energy disappeared as well.
“I’m tired.” From running. From being afraid. From losing two of the men she loved. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on Ra’s shoulder.
His hand touched her hair, resting heavily on her head. “Sleep.” It was a command, and she was too weak to disobey.
Rose awoke with a start, jack-knifing up to search for Ra. Dull pain ran beneath her skin. She was alone, and not where she’d closed her eyes.
The walls were a light gray, and the room pretty, feminine, with white accents and framed pictures.
Tumbling from the bed, she righted herself as panic surged from her stomach and made her swallow against nausea. “Ra?” Her pain was the answer though. She wouldn’t have it if he was here. She stumbled toward the door, hit the doorframe with her shoulder in her haste, and ripped it open. “Ra?”
Wait. She knew this place. Taking a tentative step into the hall, she studied the walls. Her gaze fell on a wedding photo, Briar and Marcus. She was in their house. “Ra?”
Nothing.
That had to have meant one thing. The danger was gone, but so were the guys. Briar and her vampires never would have returned to Boston if it hadn’t been safe.
They must have found her. Ra, somehow, had alerted them to her location, and they’d come for her.
Hot tears built in her eyes, but she wiped them away. She couldn’t let herself feel yet, if she did, she’d fall apart.
“Rose.” The sweet lilt of Briar’s voice came from behind her, and she whirled around to see her standing on the stairs that led to the third floor. “You’re awake.”
She nodded, studying the other woman, looking for some sign of what was going on. “Ra?”
“He’s not here.”
Her knees gave out, but like with her tears, she didn’t give into weakness. “You’re back.”
Briar approached slowly, like Rose was a wild animal ready to lash out. “How are you feeling?”
The question was absurd. How was she feeling? She’d just lost three men she loved more than life. The future stretched in front of her, bleak and lonely. “Shitty, Briar. Really shitty.”
Nodding once, Briar took her hand. “They wanted to be here when you woke up, but Seti couldn’t be moved.”
They. At first, she dismissed the word, assuming the other woman meant her husbands, but then the meaning clicked into place when paired with the rest. Seti. They. “My guys?” Her throat was tight. If this was all wishful thinking, it was going to hurt so bad. “Seti is alive?”
Understanding dawned, and Briar moved fast, clasping both her hands around Rose’s. She stared down at the smaller woman, taking in the way her smile lit up her whole face. “Rose. They’re all alive. Seti is in Marcus’s lab; he was hurt badly. Ra woke up earlier and asked to be taken to him. Horus has been there as well. We’ll go now.”
“Yes.” She had to see them with her own eyes, because Briar’s words were too much.
In minutes, they were out the door and driving down the street.
Marcus lived in Back Bay, but not even this part of the city had been untouched by the horror and chaos of the past months. Buildings were broken, windows shattered. Cars were destroyed, parked at weird angles and in the middle of some side streets as if the people driving them had abandoned them to escape.
“Is this safe?” Rose glanced at Briar. The other woman didn’t look physically able to fight off an attack. From what she remembered of Briar’s husbands, they wouldn’t be on board with their wife putting herself in danger. “Maybe you should go back.” In fact, “Maybe I shouldn’t go to them at all. There are still crawlers and soldiers. They could be drawn to me. It would put you all at risk.”
“You sent them away,” Briar said. She glanced at Rose briefly. “My husbands and Horus took care of the stragglers. It’s as safe as Boston can get.” She flashed a smile and then turned her focus back to the road. “They’d never let me out of their sight if it wasn’t. Trust me.”
“I guess I have to.” She drummed her fingers on the door, bit her lip, and prayed nothing stood between her and the guys.
Briar sucked in a breath, catching her attention. Facing her, Rose took in the tense set of her shoulders and the way she worried her lip.
“What is it?”
“It’s just—you need to be prepared,” the other woman said, “for Seti’s injury. Hudson and Marcus had to operate on him.”
Operate? “But he’s alive, right? Healthy?”
The red brick buildings of Harvard stretched in front of them as Briar pulled the car into a parking lot. Rose didn’t need to hear anything else, because this was where Seti was. She’d see him in a minute, with her own eyes, and figure out just how bad things were.
Briar got out of the car and led the way into the building. With each step, her pain lessened. They’re close.
Briar went down a long hallway, leading her past empty offices, down a set of stairs into a basement, and stopped at a door with a keypad.
Hurry. Rose bounced on her heels, desperate to see them. The door opened with a click, and she pushed past the other woman.
With part of her mind, she took in the room—beeping monitors, an IV—but what caught and held her attention were the two men at the bedside of a third.
Seti turned his head when she entered, smiling softly. “You kept me waiting.”
The tears she been so afraid of spilled down her cheeks as she stumbled to him. Horus moved aside to make room for her, but she didn’t pass by him. “I don’t have enough arms.” She touched him, reveled in the firm flesh beneath her palm, and kissed his shoulder. He was alive.
And Ra.
He stared at her, his eyes a very human golden-brown. “I hated to leave you, but…” His gaze went to his brother, and Rose followed it.
Stretched out in the bed, Seti was pale, and his eyes a little glazed, like he was drugged. Rose studied him, freezing when she saw his leg. Or where his leg should have been.
The lump beneath the blanket stopped at his knee. “Oh god.” She didn’t want to hurt him, but she had to touch him. Horus let her, moving his hand to her back in an offer of support.
Or maybe he needed her support, too.
Rose touched her lips to Seti’s neck before she buried her face against it.
He rested his hand on top of her head, holding her against him. “I’m okay.”
She sniffed, blinking rapidly. She wouldn’t cry over this. Seti was alive and that was all that mattered. Lifting her head, she stared down at him, willing him to see how much she loved him. “You bet your ass you’re okay. You’re a fucking miracle. I don’t know how I got this lucky.”
His eyes widened as she spoke, the wan smile on his face growing until his eyes lit up. “So fierce. Ordering crawlers. Saving my brothers. Saving me.”
“We shouldn’t have stayed away so long,” another voice interrupted them. Rose looked over to see Marcus
staring at Seti. “I’m sorry.”
“You turned up when it really mattered,” Horus said. He slid his hands up her back to cup the back of her neck. When she turned to face him, he dragged her into his arms. “I thought I would never see you again.”
She had thought he was dead. She’d thought all of them were dead. Standing on her tiptoes, she touched her lips to his. He slid his tongue past them, dipping inside her mouth to taste her before he straightened.
A strong hand grabbed her next, spinning her away and into equally strong arms. “I love you.” Ra’s voice was raspy, as if he was finding it hard to speak.
Beneath her ear, his heart gave a steady thump, confirming what his eyes had hinted. He was becoming human.
Leaning back, she studied him. “You’re okay?” She meant more than physically. Was he okay with what she’d done by giving him her blood? Was he okay with a life that would end in forty or fifty years?
Instead of answering, he kissed her. His lips were warm, plucking at hers. She opened, wanting more. With a quiet groan, he gave it to her, plunging into her mouth, scraping his teeth across her lips.
Someone cleared their throat, jerking them back to reality, and Rose lowered herself to her heels. “Sorry, not sorry.”
Ra laughed, revealing the smooth column of his throat, and she lifted on her toes again to kiss it.
“Seti has a long road ahead of him,” Hudson said. He wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head before he met Rose’s gaze.
“He’s strong,” she answered. “And he has his family. We’ll figure it out.”
“He hasn’t transitioned entirely to human. It is what saved his life, but the healing has slowed. He’ll need therapy and at some point, a prosthesis,” Hudson went on.
“We’ll find you the best one.” Marcus leaned over, staring hard at Seti. “I promise, you won’t be alone.”
“I know.” Seti’s blue eyes met hers, and she smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand. “I have my family.”
It killed Rose to leave Seti at Harvard with Hudson and Marcus. But her two, semi-human boyfriends were exhausted, having not left their brother’s bedside. She crunched down hard on the peppermint she’d stolen from Marcus’s lab.
Echoes of Blood and Glory Page 15
