by Ginna Moran
His admission, while I’m aware of because he’s admitted as much in front of me to his brothers, catches me a bit off guard. I freeze and turn to him, staring at his handsome face, totally devouring my reaction.
“I do now,” I say, biting my lip. “And I love you too.”
“Yeah?” he asks.
I nod and kiss him. “Yeah.”
Bronx scoops me up, taking the stairs two at a time. He hops over the dead body and doesn’t set me down until the floor is clear of blood. I stand with him in the middle of a hallway and peer around, trying not to look inside all the open doors. I can smell the potent, slightly rancid smell of a dead vampire coming from the door at the end on the left. If it weren’t for the soft breathing coming from the room across from it, I might turn around and rush back down the stairs.
Bronx clasps my shoulders, pressing his chest into my back. “All you have to do is tell them that you’re the head of the Daylight Donor Division of the Royale Coven and that you’re here to relocate them to the nearest city until we can go over their contracts.”
I stiffen and turn, forcing him to let me go. “Why can’t we just let them go?”
His brows pinch together. “Go where exactly?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. A place that’ll make them exempt? I know what happens to people who lose their work contracts, Bronx. If the Barons did this because of me, I—”
Bronx leans in and cuts me off with a kiss. “Okay. We’ll figure out how to get that done, even if we have to create our own exempt community.”
“Really?” I smile in surprise. “You’d do that?”
“Might as well do something unheard of the last week we’re in charge.” His words wipe the smile right off my face, and he sighs, turning me back around. “Go on, Gwen. The faster we get them situated, the faster we can move on. The last thing I want is to get trapped in this damn town for the day, especially since the Barons seem to have ravaged the place.”
I study his hard features for another moment and then twist around to face the mess the Barons left behind. Sucking in a deep breath, I steel my nerves and enter the room on the right. I stop in my tracks and cover my mouth, my stomach heaving. Nausea rolls through me, paralyzing my limbs. Gross things don’t usually bother me, but something about seeing the five guys and one woman latching onto the torsos of two dismembered vampires grosses me the hell out.
My world spins, and I throw up blood in the hallway. Everett materializes next to me, taking Bronx’s place. He combs my hair up with his fingers and gently rubs his hand into my back. I clutch my knees, waiting for the rolling in my stomach to stop.
“Go relocate the body, Bronx. Quickly. They will have less time to react that way,” Everett says. He squats down to look at me. “Just take a few breaths, Gwen.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I say, closing my eyes and breathing through my nose. “I don’t usually get grossed out.”
He chuckles. “Well, you’ve also never seen something like...this.”
I manage to stand upright, a weird-ass noise drawing my attention to the stairs. Jameson holds a little human on his hip, and I can’t stop staring at how weird it is. I have never been around a child before except for my brothers growing up, and back then, it wasn’t weird.
“I brought you some water, Gigi,” Jameson says, holding up the glass in his free hand.
I twirl my finger at him. “Looks like you found a friend.”
He chuckles. “Maybe we can keep him.”
I raise my eyebrows. “And then do what?”
Shrugging, he says, “Feed him? I was thinking we could name him Jameson the Third.” Jameson adjusts the little guy in his arms, flashing his fangs in a smile. “What do you think tiny human? Jameson Jr.?”
The kid’s face scrunches a second before he wails, gushing big tears from his eyes. Jameson frowns and holds him away from him, dangling the kid out like he’ll explode at any second. The sight is far more hilarious than it should be. Jameson looks totally offended that his charm didn’t work on the little guy, though I’m pretty sure the baby doesn’t understand a word Jameson says, or he does, and is freaked out.
Everett steals the kid away and whacks Jameson on the back. “Keep your fangs in check, brother. The Barons probably scared him.” Carrying the kid closer, Everett holds him out to me. “Here, I want you to take him with you into the room. It might stop the people in there from attacking. I already hear them searching for weapons.”
“Yeah, the disappearing corpse set them off a bit,” Bronx says, strolling from the room on the left where the putrid smell wafts from. “And I no longer think our girl should approach them. I’ll call the nearest city to send human security in the morning.”
Everett links his fingers into his hair. “We shouldn’t leave them here alone. With the child, I think things will be fine with Gwen.”
“You expect a snotty, crying little dude to protect our girl?” Jameson asks. “Yet you flip your shit over any of us letting her get out of arm’s reach? What the fuck, Ev?”
I raise my free hand, trying not to look at the child. It feels incredibly strange to hold another person. I’m used to being carried and not the other way around. “Chill out, Jamie. Everett’s right. There’s no way they’ll attack me or whatever if I’m carrying a child. Humans are fiercely protective of kids.”
Bronx sighs and motions toward the room. “I can already tell your mind is set, so go on. Hurry up. If you’re wrong, we’ll be here to back you up.”
“And remember what Bronx said. Make it clear that you’re here to help on behalf of the Royale Coven’s Daylight Donor Division,” Jameson reminds me. “Though, I hate the title on you.”
I don’t even know how to respond to his musing, so I don’t.
Everett swipes his sleeve to my mouth, probably wiping off any remnants of the blood my body expelled in horror. He pats my cheek and nudges me to get my legs to start working on their own, even though I really don’t want to do this. It was always Ashton or Grayson who dealt with the people we rescued from terrible vampire households. They were much better at taking charge and handling those who were frightened.
Stopping outside the now closed door, I take a moment to listen to the people shuffling around inside. I raise my hand and knock a few times. “Hello? Please don’t attack me. I have a child with me.” Silence falls over the room, and I crack the door open and try to peer inside. “I’m unarmed and here to help you. The Royale Coven sent me. I’m head of the Daylight Donor Division. Are any of you injured?”
A guy clears his throat. “Y-yes.”
I gently kick the door open, instinctively turning the kid away instead of holding him in front of me just in case they react violently. “I’m coming in.”
“Gwen, use the baby as a shield,” Bronx says, keeping his voice low.
I glower at him.
Jameson backhands his shoulder. “That might be our future kid you want Gwen to endanger.” He releases a soft growl, narrowing his eyes.
Before the two of them go at it, I swing the door open all the way. And damn. Even though Bronx removed most of the dismembered vampire, he forgot an arm. What makes it worse is that a man clutches it, prepared to use it as a weapon.
“Please don’t try to slap me with that thing,” I say, adjusting the kid on my hip so that the small group of people can see him, but he’s still safe enough on my side.
The man flares his nostrils, his eyes darting to the child. “Put my son down.”
I tighten my jaw. “I will when you drop the arm. You’re going to scare him more.”
The only woman in the room snatches the arm away from the glowering guy and proceeds to whack him with it. She then tosses it on the floor and rushes to me. I brace for her to collide into me or some shit, but all she does is hold her arms out.
“Thank you for saving my Timothy,” the woman says. “I was so scared.”
I hear Jameson grumble about the kid’s name under his breath
. His voice is too low for the woman to overhear, but I can’t help glancing at the door. “You guys are safe now. The assholes who did this are gone.”
The woman takes the child from me and snuggles him close, releasing a soft cry of relief. “It happened so fast. The Yorks couldn’t even draw their weapons.”
“So they were ambushed?” I ask, trying to think of the questions my guys would want to know. “How long ago?”
“Just after sunset. A man arrived at the door looking for shelter from the night. My partner, Clive, took pity on him and snuck him in through the back.” The woman glances over her shoulder at the five silent guys huddled together. “I—I don’t remember much of what happened after. We woke up locked in here. I thought they took Timothy. He was with his big sister...” Tears explode from the woman’s eyes, and she starts sobbing. Turning, she looks at the guys again. “Oh, no, Clive. Daphne. She’d have tried to fight.”
“Daphne?”
“Gwen,” Everett whispers. “The child was alone.”
“Did you see her...she just turned eighteen. Mr. York offered her a contract that would allow my husband and me to retire early.” She sucks in a deep breath. “Daphne!” The woman’s voice rips through the air, startling me.
“Tell her that she is not here, Gigi,” Jameson whispers.
Bronx clears his throat. “Also tell her that finding her will be our priority.”
I lick my lips and swallow, turning my attention back to the woman. “You are the only humans here. My...team didn’t see any dead humans, either. All vampires. I think she might’ve been taken.”
The woman gasps. “No.”
Reaching out, I touch her shoulder. “But don’t worry. We’re going to find her. We’ll get the monsters responsible for this.”
The woman thrusts her arms around me, making Jameson, Everett, and Bronx all release quiet warning growls. I pat her back with one hand and wave the other to get them to chill out. I’m nearly certain the last thing on this woman’s mind is hurting me.
“What’s going to happen to us?” The question comes from one of the guys. The woman clutches me too tightly with the baby between us that I can’t see who the voice belongs to.
“Well, I’ll introduce you to my team, and we’ll go from there.” I glance at the doorway. “I have to warn you. They are vampires. The Royales.”
The people gape at me. “The region’s ruling coven is here?” another one of the men asks.
I nod. “Is that a problem?”
“No, of course not,” the woman says. “Just surprising. Usually the Grey Coven would handle disputes or attacks.”
“Oh, well, this is a personal matter.” I don’t know how else to respond. These people seem to be much more aware of vampire infrastructure, probably because they’re not part of the general population. Either way, it’s better to keep things short. “And if you’re ready, I’d like to introduce you to my guys.”
“Your guys?” the man, who I think is Clive, asks. He steps forward and puts his arm around the woman.
“My team,” I say, trying not to react. No one responds to my comment, so I wave at the door. “Misters Royale, the humans are ready to meet you.”
“Damn, Gigi. So formal,” Jameson says, popping his head into the doorway.
A strange, guttural noise rips through the air, coming from one of the silent guys. I don’t have a chance to respond as the people yell and rush toward us, fully set on attacking.
Jameson shoves me out of the way. “Gwen, watch out!”
The six people tackle him.
Chapter 4
Attack
“SHIT, BITING IS NOT FUN unless it’s our girl,” Jameson says, shoving Clive so hard that he flies across the room.
I rush and pick up Timothy from the floor as he wails his head off. Bronx and Everett enter the room, yanking off the remaining people. Jameson jumps to his feet and closes the distance to me. I gape at the deep bite mark bleeding on his throat.
I inhale a sharp breath and hand him Timothy. The humans launch back to their feet and rush my guys again. “What the hell?”
The woman manages to close the space to Everett, sneaking behind him to jump on his back while he attempts to keep the men away without hurting them. The second she sinks her teeth into his shoulder, something inside me snaps. Shadows crowd my vision, and I charge at her. Linking my fingers to the back of her shirt, I haul her off with my dhampir strength and throw her into the wall.
“They’ve been manipulated to attack us,” Bronx says, punching Clive in the face.
“What do we do?” I ask, intercepting one of the other guys before he can sneak up on Bronx. I jump up and hook my arm around the man’s throat, pulling him back. He doesn’t attempt to fight me but tries to break away to continue his mission to bite Bronx.
So I kick him hard between the legs.
The guy howls. He drops to the ground, falling onto his side. He remains in his spot and clutches his most definitely injured cock. I realize the woman curls in on herself, pressing her back into the wall, covering her face. She doesn’t continue to fight like the four yelling guys.
Everett grabs a guy and shoves him into the wall, hoisting him off his feet. “Stop fighting,” he commands, attempting to lock him in a gaze.
I jog up to him, intercepting Clive’s attack by ramming into him. He skids across the floor and hits the wall, but it wasn’t hard enough to keep him down. He stumbles back to his feet and throws himself at Everett again.
“They consumed blood,” Bronx says as Everett drops the guy to the floor when his mind manipulation doesn’t work.
Everett elbows Clive in the jaw. “We’re going to have to knock them out.”
“Gigi, get over here,” Jameson calls. “You could get hurt. My brothers can handle it.”
“They weren’t manipulated to attack me. I can help,” I argue, grabbing another guy by the back of his shirt. Spinning him around, I knee him in the gut, and he drops to the ground. It takes a kick to his groin to keep him there.
“Damn,” Jameson says. “Ouch.”
The guy blinks a few times, his face softening as he catches his breath. “Don’t hurt me. Please, I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“I never thought I’d encourage such behavior, but Gigi, I think you’re on to something,” Jameson says. “Hey, brothers. Aim for the nads. The severe pain breaks the manipulation.”
Both Everett and Bronx look at each other like the last thing they want to do is kick someone—especially someone technically innocent—in the groin. Me, on the other hand? Desperate times.
I strut forward. “Grab them.”
Bronx locks his arms around Clive, holding him in place. He turns his head, totally squeezing his eyes shut. “Sorry, man,” he mutters under his breath.
I swing my leg and kick him right in the junk, making him holler. Like the others, he drops to the ground and stops fighting. “So you can sever someone’s head but not kick them in the balls?” I ask.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Bronx says, grabbing onto the last guy.
I narrow my eyes at him and turn to Everett, letting Bronx restrain the bucking guy. Bronx releases an annoyed growl at me, and all I do is smirk. I can’t help it. Messing with him is the only thing stopping me from thinking about what the hell I’m doing. These poor people never deserved to be treated like this. But it’s better to cause them some discomfort than having them stuck in the mind prison of sadistic assholes determined to fuck up my life.
“Close your eyes, Everett,” I say, shaking out my hands at my side.
Everett raises his brow at me but does what I say. I swiftly kick the man hard enough to break the mind manipulation. Everett lets him fall to the floor and comes to my side. Bronx grumbles at me, and I finally turn my attention back to him with the remaining guy.
I close the space. “Just a few seconds longer. I love seeing your muscles put to work.”
“Damn it, dandelion,” Bronx snaps.
Roll
ing my shoulders, I step closer. Bronx braces the guy and closes his eyes. I kick up with all my strength.
“Gwen!”
Something crashes into me, and I accidentally kick too far forward, kicking both the man and Bronx. Bronx yells out and reflexively thrusts the guy at me to cup his junk. I hit the floor as the man falls on top of me. Jameson growls and hoists the guy off. Everett grips Clive as he continues to thrash, trying to attack.
“Ah, hell,” I say. “It didn’t work on him.”
“Same with this asshole,” Jameson says, locking the man in a headlock.
After a minute, the guy passes out. Everett knocks out Clive at the same time, and Bronx manages to compose himself to help tie them up. I guess it couldn’t be as easy as I hoped. If it were, more people could break from mind manipulation.
“I thought you were done being a pain in my damn balls,” Bronx says, resting his arm on my shoulder.
I shift and frown at him. “Want me to kiss them and make them feel better?”
My words shock the hell out of him, and a few indecipherable expressions cross his face. Jameson groans from his spot, clearly not as amused as I am at my teasing of Bronx. Everett takes a few minutes to examine the four people I managed to break out of the mind manipulation.
The woman cradles Timothy in her arms. “Please don’t perform their final donations. Clive would never purposely hurt a vampire.”
Bronx looks from me to the woman. “We understand the problem. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to keep them restrained until the vampire blood leaves their systems. We’ll do our best to ensure their safety.”
Mikkalo materializes in the doorway, startling the woman. She releases a yelp and twists to hide Timothy. Mikkalo ignores her reaction and strides into the room and peers around, assessing the situation. He comes to my side and touches my cheek, like he just needs a second to make sure I’m okay.
“What’s up? You’re supposed to be on watch,” Bronx says gruffly.
Mikkalo turns his head, cracking his neck. “We gotta go. I got something on the feed just outside of town.”
