by Laken Cane
“One more thing,” she interrupted, then pretended not to hear his groan. “Gavin and Bellamy Delaney told me Gage is alive. Is that true?”
Eugene sat back in his seat, no longer smiling. “Rune, I care about you and I’ll defend you with everything I have. But you forget I’m your boss. If I feel you need to know certain things, I’ll pull you in.”
“They pulled me in, Eugene. I don’t want to know how you kept him alive once you extracted the antidote. I don’t care. But if you’re holding Gage because you need leverage with the gargoyles, you don’t have to bother. They’re where they want to be.”
“They feel we betrayed them,” Eugene argued. “That you betrayed them. They only want to work for us until someone else comes along with a better offer. I can’t risk that.”
“Bill,” she said, looking to him for support.
“He’s right, Rune. You know he’s right. They have to be put on a leash. If the wrong people get them, they could make life hell on earth for all of us. Our enemies are too powerful as it is.”
“Imagine the gargoyles with the Shop or the Next controlling them.” A spark of fear lit Eugene’s eyes. “They’re too powerful to end up in the wrong hands. We need them, but more than that, we need to keep them from other groups.”
“They want their brother.”
“And I’m sorry for them. But if I have to chain up the weaker gargoyle to keep Gavin and Bellamy in line, I will not hesitate.”
“Why are you supporting them?” Bill asked her. “You hate the gargoyles.”
She stared at him. “I don’t believe Others should be enslaved. Once upon a time, neither did you.”
Eugene slapped his desk. “A war is coming. We can’t afford to be overly concerned with those we use to help us fight. With the gargoyles on our side, we have a better chance. Do you want all Others to die because you feel sorry for one nearly braindead gargoyle?”
She turned up her lip. “The gargoyles aren’t going to win this war for you, Eugene.”
Without another word, she turned to leave the room. At the doorway, she turned back. She’d almost forgotten the key. “Dammit. Gage Delaney’s weapon. I’d like it.”
Eugene’s slow smile spread across his face. “Would you?”
They stared across the room at each other, neither of them speaking. He knew the weapon was special, and he knew she wanted it.
He was Eugene fucking Parish.
He knew more than she did.
She strode through the doorway, glad to exit the stifling office.
“Rune,” Bill called.
She didn’t stop walking. Eugene held Bill as surely as he held the gargoyles.
Shit.
Eugene held them all.
And he would do whatever he had to do to achieve his perfect world.
To win.
Good fucking thing he was on the right side.
Her cell rang as she walked down the hallway.
“Ellis,” she said. “Kader okay?”
“Of course she is. I won’t let anything happen to our girl.”
“I know.”
“Call the guys and come home,” he told her. “I have food and coffee waiting.”
“On our way,” she told him, and hung up. She sent a group text to the crew to let them know Ellis had made them dinner.
Roma sat up when Rune opened the car door, her hair stuck to her cheek and her eyes dazed.
“Let’s get out of here,” Rune said. “Ellis made dinner.” But her phone rang before she could start the car. “Alexander.”
“Did you speak to Eugene?” Gavin asked.
“Yeah. He’s not giving up the weapon.”
“Did you ask him about Gage?”
She sighed. “He’s not doing anything for me, Delaney.”
He hung up without another word.
Roma’s stomach growled. “I’m starving. Did you say Ellis has dinner waiting?”
More than she wanted dinner, Rune wanted a place to decompress. Ellie gave her that. He was good for her, and he was good for the child.
Raze was already waiting in her driveway when she drove up. The twins pulled in behind her.
“We’re starving,” Roma told Ellis, when they trooped into the kitchen.
“Where’s Kader?” Rune asked.
“She’s sleeping, but I’ll go wake her in a minute.”
“No, no. I’ll get her after I clean up.”
“Okay.”
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Jack,” Raze roared, when Jack opened the kitchen door and walked in. He clapped the other man across the back, as though he hadn’t seen him for a month.
“I’m glad you all came,” Ellis said. “I made enough for an army, just in case. And of course there’s coffee.” He bustled about the kitchen, herding them into chairs around the table, his eyes bright. “I love it when we’re all together.”
Then he glanced at Rune, and a dark cloud passed through his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
She let it go. “I have to shower. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
She knew something was bothering him, and later, when they had a quiet moment, she’d have a talk with him.
She’d find out what had put that darkness in his eyes.
Whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Fourteen
She stood in the shower for ten minutes, letting hot water loosen her shoulders as she watched the dried blood melt from her body and swirl down the drain.
Ellie had named the baby.
She’s your baby, too, Ellie. You name her.
Oh, Rune. Really?
Do you want to?
Actually, I’ve already chosen a name.
And he’d named her Kader for Z. Kader Alexander.
Z, I miss you.
If she could have brought Z back from Skyll, she would have, but Z was dead.
She’d killed him.
In her world, Z’s time was over.
And in Skyll, Z would already have forgotten her. Perhaps he’d look at the tattoo over his ribs and trace her name with a bittersweet smile.
Perhaps he’d already fabricated a different story for the tattoo.
But he’d have forgotten her.
Z…God, Z. Where are you?
But there was only the sound of the water cascading over her head.
She jumped from the shower, unable to bear the isolation a moment longer. She needed her crew. Needed their laughter.
Their love.
And she needed her daughter.
She slipped into the nursery and stood watching the baby for a long moment before she leaned over the crib and caressed the soft, chubby cheek. Ellie thought it was time to move her to a toddler bed, but Rune wanted to wait.
The baby might have been ready for a toddler bed, but Rune wasn’t ready for her to be. Soon, the kid would be learning to defend herself, to fight, to kill.
So Rune was going to keep her in her crib for a little while longer.
Kader opened her eyes and stared up at Rune, not making a sound. She smiled, though, and the innocence in that smile twisted Rune’s heart.
“Want to get up?” Rune asked.
“Okay, up,” Kader said. She waited.
Rune slid her hands around the little body and lifted her to her chest, cradling her, inhaling the scent of baby powder and clean, warm skin. “Show me the fangs, Kader.”
Kader opened her mouth and just like that, dropped her fangs. “Eh?” she said.
Rune laughed. “Those are pretty amazing.”
“Yup, okay.”
Rune hiked the little girl up and buried her face in Kader’s hair. My baby. My baby monster.
The kid’s powers were coming, and coming fast.
Eventually, she was going to get hungry.
Ellis would freak the fuck out.
“Let’s go eat, kidd
o.”
“Eat carbs.”
Before Rune carried her from the room she took her by the framed photo of Z on the chest of drawers.
Kader threw the picture a messy kiss. “Bye bye, Daddy.”
“Bye bye, Daddy,” Rune whispered.
“Rune!” Ellis turned from the stove and waved a large wooden spoon at her. “I just put your coffee on the table.” Then he tossed the spoon into the sink, wiped his hands on his apron, and rushed over to kiss Kader’s face. “There’s my sleepy little princess.”
“Yup,” Kader said. “Okay.”
Once Kader was settled in her highchair, Rune sat down and took a gulp of her coffee.
“I’m going to stalk Bill tonight,” she said, putting down her cup. “If we don’t get called out.”
“I’ll go with you,” Levi said.
“No. I don’t want to risk him spotting us. If he leaves tonight, I’m going to find out, once and for all, what the hell he’s up to.”
“Rune,” Raze said. “You can make him tell you.”
When they all gaped at him, he hastened to add, “Not by torturing him. Just don’t let up. Don’t let him tell you it’s not your business. If you stay on him, he’ll talk.”
Night fell as they were eating, and when darkness came, the Moor woke up. The sounds of vehicle engines revving, screams of laughter, loud voices, and the shouts and curses from the usual nightly brawls provided background music for the crew’s meal.
The sudden knock on the kitchen door startled them all.
“Who’s there?” Kader asked.
“My God,” Jack said. “Do all one year olds talk like this?”
“Of course not,” Ellis said, carrying a huge bowl to the table. “She’s special.”
Raze climbed to his feet and lumbered across the floor. He didn’t bother checking before he yanked open the door. “Oh hell,” he said.
“Who is it?” Rune asked.
“Nikolai,” Raze said.
“May I come in?” Nikolai asked.
Rune leaned back in her chair. “Let him in, Raze.”
Nikolai slipped through the doorway, looking healthier than he had the last time Rune had seen him. Handsome, dark…a vampire.
A vampire from Skyll.
No one offered him dinner—fearing, perhaps, that he might take them up on it.
“How are you?” Rune asked.
He smiled. “I’m good. You don’t have to feel responsible for me, Rune.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “For no other reason than I had nothing better to do. My nights are spent hiding from humans. The small group of vampires I had gathered was destroyed. You were right. I should have stayed in Skyll.”
He laughed, but she saw a flash of regret his dark eyes, and something else. Loneliness. Vampires did best in groups—even the masters.
“I offered my safe room to you once before, Nikolai. You’re welcome to it now. Things will straighten out, eventually. In the meantime…” She shrugged. “You can hang out with us.”
“Rune,” Roma said, “what about Ellis?”
Ellis stared determinedly at his plate. His face was pale, his shoulders stiff.
Levi slipped his arm around his love’s shoulders. “I’m here. No one is going to hurt you.”
“You’ll stay away from Ellie,” Rune told the vampire. “He doesn’t trust vampires. He’s a bite away from being turned, so you can understand how your presence might upset him.”
“Try the fang, Rune,” Ellis whispered.
She didn’t want to. It wasn’t going to work, and he knew that. She lifted the necklace over her head. “Catch,” she said, and tossed the fang to Nikolai.
He caught it, then looked down at it with a puzzled frown. “What is it?”
Ellie sighed. “It’s nothing, is it? Nothing at all.”
Nikolai pitched the necklace back to Rune, then looked at Ellis. “Young man, you have nothing to fear from me. I want only to live my life in reasonable comfort and with as much freedom as I can find. I have no ulterior motives or secrets. I don’t want to turn you. Please. Don’t worry about me.”
His smooth voice was so sincere, so earnest, that they all believed him. Even Ellis. She could see the belief—and the relief—in his eyes. He nodded, then gave the vampire a tiny smile. “Thank you. Besides,” he said, a little more cheerful, “I wear silver like an extra skin.” He pulled a wad of chains from the neck of his shirt.
“Baby,” Rune said, torn between laughing and crying. “That’s a lot of bling.”
“Who are you eating?” Raze asked Nikolai.
The vampire looked uncomfortable. “I must take sustenance, you understand—but I am not turning or killing your humans. Merely feeding from them.”
Rune watched them all, her heart full. Her kitchen was overflowing with people she loved, and they were safe.
And Kader…
Kader was perfection.
Her crew laughed and talked and drank coffee, and she watched them.
She took a mental snapshot of that moment and put it away. Someday, she would need to take it out and smile over it.
Cry over it.
“What’s wrong, Rune?” Ellie was suddenly beside her, peering into her face. “Are you worried about little Kader?”
She patted his hand. “Ellie. We need to talk.” About a few things.
He frowned. “Okay.”
“I just…” Her phone rang, and she snatched it off the table, grateful for the interruption. “It’s the Annex,” she told them.
Ellie watched her and she had to look away from his eyes. They saw too much.
“Alexander.” She listened for a second. “Yeah. They’re here. I’ll tell them.”
“What?” Jack asked, when she hung up.
“A couple dozen humans have invaded Wormwood. They’re armed with guns. They’ve started fires, as well. Caller said they were planning to destroy the place once and for all.”
The crew was already buckling on weapons, taking last gulps of unfinished coffee, and striding toward the door.
Dinner was over and it was time to go to work.
Chapter Fifteen
The number of humans inside Wormwood had been grossly underreported.
They swarmed the ancient cemetery, murder in their hearts and mayhem on their minds.
Wormwood reminded her, for one chilling second, of Killing Land. But there were no Skyllians in Wormwood…at least not the one in her world. No crawlers.
No monsters except the humans.
A fist of horror grabbed her heart and squeezed when she saw the trees blazing. When she heard the trees screaming.
The trees were screaming, the stones were moaning, the grass was hissing.
Wormwood was burning.
Humans ran with torches or cans of gasoline, brandishing guns, yelling, hating, afraid.
And those who battled each other inside the graveyard were left to their stupidity, but the ancient cemetery would not tolerate those who came to abuse her.
Wormwood fought back.
The air was thick with smoke, gunfire, and rage when Shiv Crew strode through the gates, protective armor firmly in place.
Rune had insisted.
The fucking humans had guns, and her crew was not immortal.
Will had been leaning against her car when she’d walked out of her house. She’d simply looked at him and pointed to her backseat. He got in without a word.
“How does he do that?” Roma asked, opening the front door. “Just appear when shit is going down?”
“Chances are pretty good,” Rune said, dryly, “that he could appear at any time and shit would be going down.”
That was the truth.
“Spread out,” Rune told them as they entered Wormwood. “Stop the fucking humans.”
“We should kill them?” the ever bloodthirsty Roma asked.
Rune glanced around at the destruction. “If they try to kill you
first.”
She knew they would. The humans were long past reasoning with.
Nikolai smiled. “If you’re going to kill them, I might as well eat them.” He took off, a blurry streak in the moonlight, to have his bloody dinner.
“Don’t get shot,” Rune said, but she was speaking to herself.
Her crew had melted into the smoky chaos.
There among the crazed humans, she was as alone as she’d ever been.
And she should have warned Ellie to have a care around Kader and her fangs.
She shook off her worry and fought side by side with Wormwood. She was part of the place, and it had her back.
She flew, spun, and kicked her way through the graveyard, leaving death in her wake. In the midst of the battle, she not only embraced her monster, but let it have control.
The phantom of Lex was there with her, mirroring her movements in a beautiful, gory dance. There would always be a hole in her heart where the little blind Other had lived.
She fought on, ripping guns from careless grips, stomping out fires that dotted the grounds.
Do you ever get tired of fighting the monsters?
Bullets penetrated her flesh and she shrugged off the pain and raced to the shooters to end them.
She felt no emotion.
She was a killing machine.
And later, when the battle wound down, she spotted Will the Assassin a few yards away, waving his hand to get her attention.
She frowned and jogged to him. “What is it?”
“There’s something you should see.” Without waiting for her response, he turned and loped away.
She followed, hoping his “something” didn’t turn out to be an injured crew member. Or a dead one.
She knew that one day she’d be without all of them. That particular worry haunted her often. It was the steep price of immortality.
She shook off her morbid thoughts.
“What is it, Will?” Her tone was sharper than she’d meant it to be.
He said nothing, but finally, he slowed to a walk and put a finger to his lips.
She frowned and opened her mouth, but he shook his head warningly.
Then, he pointed.
She crept through the undergrowth, chill bumps rising.
She was nearly certain she didn’t want to see what he’d found. She continued forward anyway, sliding through the night like a reluctant shadow.
