“We do. Ace?”
Ace stood. “Jelena’s stražar called The Base this morning and gave us the meeting place.”
I jerked my head to look at Mirko. “She knows that you’re involved in helping me?” My heart sped up, and my hands felt clammy.
“It appears she does,” he said, holding his facial muscles steady. He had a lot more practice schooling his emotions than I did.
I must have reeked with fear. I recalled Jelena’s threat from the note:
The same comes to those who aid you in defying me.
I pictured Mirko’s smooth cheeks and chiseled jaw line marred with blisters and blackened with ash where the skin had charred. Mirko had already been traumatized by this woman, I was sure of it. And here he stood, willing to defend me against her, anyway.
“I’ll go,” I said, keeping my eyes locked on his. It was time to end this.
“No,” he said, without looking away.
I stared at him. I wouldn’t back down. “I’m going. I’m sick of being the sniveling little girl hiding in the corner. I have powers.”
He smirked as if he’d already won the argument. “Have you used nestati yet?”
“Not completely, but I can get it. I almost had it the night Lijepa was murdered,” I said, reminding him that I knew how terrible Jelena could be, and I still wanted to help.
“No,” Mirko said, unmoving.
“Then what’s your plan? How do you solve this without me?” I cocked my head to the side and raised my eyebrows. I knew I was right.
Ace spoke. “The simplified version is that we take a team to the meeting place, and we kill her.”
I faced forward, piercing Ace with my eyes. “And what if that doesn’t work? What if Jelena doesn’t even go to the meeting? Many of you will die. For nothing.”
Ace turned to Mirko. Guessing by the way their eyes locked onto each other now, they had been over this scenario.
Mirko looked back to me. “I’ll force one of her men into giving up her location. I’ll handle it,” he said, clipped.
A young guy from within my row stood. “Jelena would most likely send her men to pick up Brooke. She’d probably have a team stay behind to ensure that we don’t follow, and another team to take Brooke to her. I doubt any of her men would give up her location.”
“Couldn’t you guys follow me based on the signature of my brain waves or something?” I asked.
“Not from a distance. No,” Mirko said.
Another guy further in the back added, “Couldn’t we give her some kind of tracking device to keep tabs on her whereabouts?” He had a thick British accent.
“Yeah, there has to be some way you can track me. You’re gonna need me to get to her.”
“We do have the new RDIF chips,” Ace said. “We could probably have one flown in by the morning. That would give us enough time to implant it into Brooke and still make the meeting in time.”
I wondered how large this device would be and how invasive the procedure would be to get it implanted, but I hid my hesitation.
Mirko sat, still as a stone. The whole room seemed to be waiting on the same held breath.
“She’s right,” Ace said, breaking the silence.
Mirko glared at Ace. “Would you be willing to give up your girl to play bait to that woman? You know what she’s capable of if we don’t get her back.”
Ace squared his shoulders. “If she were as competent and willing as Brooke is, yes, I would.”
Mirko looked, for the first time since the meeting started, that he might be considering my involvement.
“She obviously doesn’t want to kill me. She needs me,” I said, hoping to sway him. His face softened. Then I remembered that a woman had attacked me at the airport, and she had clearly wanted me dead. I couldn’t figure out why or how that fit into all of this, but right now didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up to Mirko.
“She should have a say in this,” Jaren said from the back of the room. Mirko tilted his head at Jaren, and Jaren continued. “This woman has turned Brooke’s life upside down, killed her mentor, and who knows what she’ll do next. If Brooke feels that she can do what her part requires of her, and she has the faith in you to do yours, she should be given the opportunity to end this.”
I beamed at Jaren. He believed in me. He loved me, and I’m sure this plan terrified him, but he still wanted to give me the choice. “Thank you,” I mouthed.
Mirko stared at Jaren, but Jaren didn’t falter. “Get the tracking device ordered,” Mirko said, turning to Ace.
I sighed and my shoulders sagged in relief, but then my stomach clenched in fear. I would soon be face to face with Lijepa’s murderer. I hoped to get justice for Lijepa. If the other Pijawikas came after me for retribution, then so be it. Jelena would be mine.
28
I’ll Kill You for This
The following morning, Mirko drove the Hummer to take Jaren and Kaitlynn to the airport. With Jelena somewhere in Utah, it was safer for them to go home. As a precaution, Ace had arranged for a team of three Zao Duhs to go back to Virginia with Kaitlynn and Jaren. My nerves buzzed with fear and anticipation of meeting Jelena later today, and I was grateful I didn’t have to also worry about sending Kaitlynn and Jaren home without any protection. Their security detail drove in the Hummer behind us.
All the other Zao Duhs that had attended Mirko’s strategizing meeting had been broken up into two teams: a “secret follow me once I go with Jelena’s men” team, and a “stay behind to act as my drop off” team. These teams were now in transit to the meeting place to take up their positions.
The plane had been scheduled to land at a different airport than the one we landed at when arriving. This time we drove west across the salt flats and toward the Utah-Nevada border. Mirko suggested I stay behind, to prepare for the day’s events, but I wanted to see Kaitlynn and Jaren leave on that plane in safety.
I knew what would be waiting for me once we returned to The Base. Ace had told me that the tracking device was about the size of a grain of rice and it would only be as painful as a pin prick when they implanted it.
Mirko pulled the Hummer into a parking spot at the Wendover Airport and killed the engine. A few cars and a van littered the lot, but it appeared to be a quiet day for the airport. Kaitlynn’s team pulled into the slot a couple of spaces over from us.
Everyone unloaded from the Hummers and came around back to help carry the bags. Ace opened the back when I heard the scuffle of sneakers against the asphalt and then saw a group of men jump out from their hiding places behind the parked cars in the lot. Seven fanged men ran toward us at vampire speed.
Fighting broke out around me. Snarls erupted, and grunts mixed with the echoes of fists and knuckles slapping against flesh.
Mirko jumped into the fray with an intensity I had never seen. His fangs sprang from his mouth and he sliced them against his attacker’s throat. Blood erupted, jetting into Mirko’s face as his attacker bounded back, clutching his neck.
I pushed Kaitlynn and Jaren behind me and to the side of the Hummer, keeping them out of the fray. A Pijawika with bleached-white hair stormed toward us. I dropped low and swiped my leg out to knock him off of his feet, but he jumped over my sweep, exposing the tender flesh along his Achilles tendon, above the back of his sneaker. I stretched my hand into my practiced claw and swiped, tearing into muscle and snagging against bone.
The Pijawika crashed to the ground, landing hard on his shoulder. He grabbed his ankle and spewed words in another language that I had no doubt translated into vulgar cuss words. He rolled onto his back, and the sun glinted off his chest. When he shifted to his side, I glimpsed the znak that moments ago had mirrored the sun’s rays. The ruby sat snug in the center, the same as the one on my prior attacker upon our arrival days earlier. However, the bronze-gold metal of this symbol arched in ways the other znak had not.
This znak resembled a true sun with rays beaming from the center, shooting away from the ruby, different from the one
that I described to Mirko at the airport. This was the one Mirko thought I saw. This was Jelena’s.
“Stop!” a woman ordered, stepping out from behind a van. She was gorgeous, and moved with regal authority. Most of the fighting seized, and my train of thought transferred to this woman. She faced me, and my knees lost their strength. I leaned against the back of the Hummer to catch myself.
Her appearance mirrored mine. My jaw arched at a wider angle than hers, and her eyes were bigger and sparkled brown where mine were blue, but the relation between us became clear. Jelena.
A whimper sounded behind me, and I turned.
Kaitlynn stood in the clutches of a Pijawika that must have snuck around the other side of the Hummer while I was fighting.
“Dikan,” Mirko said with hatred thick in his voice, a sign of bad blood between the two.
Dikan’s arms imprisoned Kaitlynn, while his hand craned her head to the side, fangs extended and hovering above the delicate, pulsing skin of her neck. Tart whiffs of ammonia wafted toward me. My eyes followed the scent and found a trail soaking down Kaitlynn’s pant leg as she wet herself.
Heat coursed through my body so intense the only thing comparable would be the time I stood with the mountain lion. This time, however, the heat burned hotter. Fire licked my veins, driving from my heart and tearing toward my fingers and toes.
I extended my fangs and opened my mind, readying it to hit the Pijawika with so much force he would have fallen dead from the onslaught. But my rage was a wild beast, and I didn’t trust it to keeping the strike limited to her captor.
“Nestati,” Jelena purred with a thick accent. “So much better than I thought you would be, darling.”
I peered down and found that my legs and feet blinked in and out of sight. My fury had been so great that the flames within me activated the chameleon, but because I held myself back, it must have caused it to flicker.
“Dikan.” Jelena laughed. Her giggle reminded me of wind chimes. Such a disparity from the way I viewed her. “Merely hold her still for now.”
Mirko moved to lunge at Dikan.
“No,” I screamed. Their numbers were close to matching ours with their wounded incapacitated, so it would have been a fair fight, but I couldn’t risk Kaitlynn. One slight move in the wrong direction, and he’d slit her throat.
“Come to me, niece, and I’ll let your human live,” Jelena said.
Rage boiled within me, but doubt never crept into my mind. I would go. I took a step closer to Jelena.
Mirko roared. “I’ll kill you for this, Jelena.”
She laughed, clanking wind chimes ricocheted around me. “Mirko, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ll go,” I promised. “Let her go now, and I’ll leave with you.”
“No. You come to me now, and your human goes free,” Jelena said.
I walked on shaking legs toward her. I passed Mirko.
“You don’t have to do this,” he growled, wiping blood off his face.
I looked back at Kaitlynn to remind myself why I had to do this. “Would you do the same for me?” I whispered.
He squinted, and that was enough of an answer. “Get her to safety, and then come find me.”
Jaren stood to the side, mouth set in a tight line of anger, his eyes wide in fear.
I marched toward Jelena, covering the distance in seconds. She grabbed my arm, crushing my tendons into my bones.
“Release her, Dikan,” Jelena said, keeping her word.
He released her. “As you wish, My Lady,” he said and bowed.
Kaitlynn stumbled over to Ace with retching sobs rising from her throat, and he clutched her to him. Relief filled me and mixed with the adrenaline and rage. I struggled not to cry.
I tried to focus my efforts to Jelena’s mind, to any of my enemies’ minds, but my strength had been weakened with holding it back until Kaitlynn’s release, and their minds were too strong.
“It’s about time you got acquainted with your family,” Jelena said, nails digging into my arm, causing blood to well around her fingertips as she dragged me into the van.
29
Let. Me. Go.
Dikan jumped into the van before we drove off. Jelena sat to my left and he sat to my right. I wandered their minds, trying to find any breach I could to get out of here.
Jelena had recognized the tickle of my probing and had cackled at how much stronger I was than she’d anticipated. I decided at that point to allow myself to rest and recharge before I tried to hijack their minds again.
She talked with me, sweet at first, and then bordering on aggressive in her attempt to persuade me to tell her of any other powers I possessed. I clenched my jaw to show her I wouldn’t provide her with any such information. I couldn’t have revealed anything to her, even if I did know of any other powers. Lijepa had said that I had many, but Jelena killed her before Lijepa and I were able to uncover them all. Animosity rose on acidic bile within my throat, but I smothered it. I needed my strength to get out of this. If I could kill Jelena on my way out, I would attempt it, but I doubted the opportunity to do both would arise.
I wondered why Jelena wanted to change things. Did she want power? Money? Unlimited resources to food? What exactly drove her to all this trouble in using me?
As we pulled up to her property—I assumed she owned it because she called it home—I knew the purpose couldn’t be to obtain more money. Her house resembled a castle, but without the stains and wear that collected on the older structures. It stood bigger and grander than even Garwin’s did.
Dikan pulled me up the stairs and through a large doorway that opened into the modern-day castle. We entered a foyer with opulence so magnificent, millionaires would be living in squander in comparison.
I faced Jelena in awe. “What do you hope to gain from me?”
She smirked, beauty queen teeth twinkling in the light. “You can bring me nothing by yourself. As my catalyst, you will elevate me to a power unknown to any other woman in Pijawikan history.”
“So, that’s all this is? Destroying so many? Lijepa, me, and anyone else who has gotten in your way? All because you’re power hungry? You make me sick,” I said, disgusted.
“You’re so feeble minded, niece. Never before has a woman held a position within the commission. Sure, some have been more powerful than our male counterparts, but we have been denied regardless. I’m creating history. It will be because of a woman that my race will no longer be denied its birthright. Zao Duhs and humans have been running wild long enough.” She glided toward me and held my chin, locking her eyes on mine. “We will always be weak under Zladislov’s oversight. I am merely doing what is right for my people.”
I spit in her face. She backhanded me, causing me to bite my tongue. Blood trickled down my throat. I sucked it forward and shot it out onto her pristine marble floor.
“I’m feeble minded? You’re ignorant. We’ve tasted freedom for far too long. You think we’ll be molded by you so easily? We won’t. We’ll fight, and we will not go down quietly. You want war, we’ll give you one, and you’ll have to kill us all to get to the top.” A smile spread across my face. “And you’d better hope we don’t kill you in the process.”
“Stražar, take her to her room,” Jelena order, and Dikan pushed me forward. “You two,” Jelena pointed, “guard her door. No one goes in or out unless I authorize it.”
Dikan shoved me up three flights of stairs as I trailed behind the two Pijawikas assigned to guard my door. All three of them wore the same znak as the Pijawika who I’d fought not even an hour earlier. And these znaks were definitely different from the one my attacker wore at the airport. Someone else wanted me dead. But who?
Before I figured it out, Dikan opened a door and pushed me inside. He slammed the door shut and a lock jarred into place on the other side of the steel frame.
I kicked the door. “You’re gonna die, too, Dikan,” I cursed at the door. I promised myself I’d kill Jelena, but if I couldn’t, I would at least make
sure I took out Dikan.
His chuckle faded as he walked away.
* * *
I plopped down on the mattress that rested above an iron bed frame. I hoped Mirko got Jaren and Kaitlynn home safely. I also wondered how close he was to finding out where I had been taken. Too bad The Base hadn’t been stocked with that stupid tracking device and I’d been able to get it implanted last night. Jelena’s men hadn’t even patted me down or run an RDIF reader over me like Mirko and Ace had thought they might. Ace said that the RDIF frequencies would be unique enough that a scanner shouldn’t pick it up, but Mirko still worried.
My brain floated in a fog, but I tested the walls built around my guards’ minds regardless. Blocked, just as I’d suspected. I relaxed, hoping I could recharge to a level that would allow me to get out of here later.
I examined the room for anything that would help me. My prison had a small window nestled into one of the walls. I could probably squeeze through, but it would be a long tumble to the ground. I rose from the bed and walked over. I shook my head, staring down the bare brick wall. In movies, the building where captives were held always had a trellis or a drain pipe that served as a convenient escape route. Just my luck that I’d get neither. If I magically wiggled through the tight spot between the window’s seals, I’d have to jump, or fall.
I strolled back over to the bed. I had no clue as to how long Jelena would hold me in this room before she moved forward with her plan, but I also couldn’t fathom how close Mirko had come to finding me. I decided to wait it out for a while, my knee bouncing in anxiety.
After waiting for what felt like hours, I resolved to take my chances with the three-story drop. I pulled the quilt off of the bed and dragged it over to the window. I lingered until I thought my guards were deep enough in conversation that they wouldn’t hear me breaking the window. I folded the quilt until I thought the layers would muffle the sound of shattering glass, but not enough that it would pad the force needed to smash the pane.
Nerves curdled in my stomach, and my heart beat to crescendo almost to the point of exploding. I only had this one chance, and I’d better not screw it up. I raised my shaking arms, holding the quilt up to the window with one hand. I punched the window as hard as I could.
Descended by Blood Page 19
