by Kali Argent
“Mm, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
An odd sound, somewhere between a snort and a groan came from behind him, and Rhys turned to find Deidra watching the pair with open cynicism.
“And you are?” the captain asked.
“Deidra O’Malley.” Popping her hip out to the side, she folded her arms over her breasts and grinned to reveal long, pointed fangs. “You can call me the ‘fucking werewolf.’”
Rhys laughed at the stunned looks she received, but he didn’t take the captain’s comment about werewolves personally. “Well, I’m a werewolf as well, but you can just call me Rhys.”
With one arm still around his female, Deke extended his arm, nodding when Rhys took it in a brief handshake. “No disrespect, but our encounters with wolves haven’t exactly been pleasant recently.”
“Aye, I’m guessing you have a point there.” Easing out of her defensive posture, Deidra shook Deke’s hand as well. “How’d they get you?”
“They shot us with darts the second we stepped out of the car at the bunker.” Roux rubbed at her arm. “We woke up in these big holes in the ground with collars around our necks, and a couple of assholes laughing as they zapped us.”
“They brought us here last night,” Lynk added in his deep baritone. “That’s the extent of what we know.”
Rhys had done this song and dance before, and he didn’t look forward to recapping the atrocities that awaited them. These strangers were important to Thea, though, the closest thing she had to family, so he’d do what he could to prepare them.
“What happened in Trinity Grove?” Thea asked. “Did you get the civilians out of town?”
Shadows darkened Deke’s blue eyes, and from the way the muscle in his jaw ticked, Rhys gathered the news he had to share wasn’t good.
“We found footprints through the woods, and tread marks out by the highway, but we didn’t see anyone in town. The city was deserted by the time we got there, and the Diavolos estate was up in flames.”
“You didn’t find anyone?” Thea’s tone wavered between skepticism and disappointment. “What about the tunnels under the Bastille. Did you look there?”
Deke nodded. “We spent two days searching through every inch of the city, then up and down the highway. It’s a ghost town.”
“Some of them might have made it out,” Zerrik offered, but without any real conviction. “They could have headed north to Ithaca.”
“Yeah,” Thea agreed, readily accepting the theory. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“You look like shit,” the human male—Brody they’d called him—said, speaking for the first time. “When’s the last time you fed, Z?”
Thea had offered her own blood, and while Rhys understood why she’d done it, the vampire wasn’t getting anywhere near her. He liked the lieutenant, respected him, but not enough to let him chomp on his mate’s neck. If Zerrik needed blood, he could have Rhys’, or he could feed on one of his fellow soldiers, because Thea was definitely off limits.
“I’m okay,” Zerrik answered, ducking his head and turning away from the concerned looks that followed him. “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
“I think we’re more concerned about you hurting yourself.” Letting go of Rhys, Thea marched over to the vampire and poked him in the chest. “If you keep this up, you’ll barely be standing come the next Gallows.”
“What the hell are the Gallows?” Deke demanded.
Roux rolled her eyes. “Well, sweetheart, does it sound like anything good?”
The human female had fire, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, just like a certain puma shifter Rhys knew. “No, it’s nothing good. I’ll explain later.”
Thea had ignored the entire exchange, still glaring at Zerrik, waiting for some kind of response. When she received none, she poked him again, a little harder this time, and growled.
“Damn it, Zerrik. No one gives a sweet fuck that you’re a vampire. You need blood, something that’s not exactly in short supply here.”
“How can you say that?”
Rhys started toward her when Zerrik snarled, but Thea waved him back.
“How can you think that way,” the vampire continued with barely hidden disgust, “after what just happened to Cade and Abby?”
Roux and Brody both jerked. “What happened to Cade?” Brody demanded, at the same time the female asked, “Where’s Abby?”
“They were taken,” Rhys explained while Thea continued to argue with Zerrik. “The alpha of the pack sold them, traded them, I don’t know, but he sent them to the Abraxas coven along with two other humans.”
Deke cursed under his breath, and Roux’s eyes filled with tears. Brody appeared speechless, and Lynk’s countenance hardened, deepening the grooves across his brow.
“When?” The word came through gritted teeth as Deke fisted his right hand until the knuckles turned white.
“Maybe half an hour ago.”
“Zerrik, I swear to the goddess,” Thea yelled, dragging everyone’s attention back to her quarrel. “Either feed, or Lynk is going to hold you down while I shove my bleeding wrist down your throat.”
Lynk arched a pale eyebrow and grinned. “I’m game.”
Rhys liked vampires about as much as the rest of them liked werewolves, but he recognized suffering when he saw it. Despite his protests and arguments to the contrary, Zerrik was barely holding on, viciously battling back his bloodlust because he didn’t want to make his friends uncomfortable.
“I’ll do it.” He respected Zerrik, but he wouldn’t call them friends. The lack of familiarity should solve part of the issue. “Where do you want to do this?”
“What?” A golden ring glowed around Thea’s irises when she spun around to face him. “No. Absolutely not. You are mine.”
“He’s going to bite me, angel, not fuck me. Relax.” Still, he had to admit her response pleased him more than a little.
Zerrik choked, and Thea growled, but Deidra and Roux doubled over in a fit of giggles.
“I mean, I’m not saying you should do it, but that would be kind of hot.”
“Kitten,” Deke growled in warning to his mate.
“What?” Completely remorseless, Roux rose up on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. “Well, it would be.”
Thea glared for several heartbeats, before her eyes softened, and she finally relented. “Maybe it would be easier if it was someone he doesn’t know that well.”
“I’m standing right here,” Zerrik reminded her, but he looked less pained than he had a moment ago. “Rhys, you don’t have to do this. I’m really okay.”
“No, you’re not, and to be honest, I care less about your hunger and more that you pose a danger to my mate when it becomes too much for you to fight.” Pulling the sleeves of his shirt up his elbows, he nodded. “So, again, where do you want to do this?”
“It would be better if you were sitting.” Scanning the room, he pointed to a rope hammock that hung just a couple of feet off the ground between the two biggest trees. “You might feel a little light headed.”
With Thea’s hand in his, he strode purposely to the hammock and settled down on one side, leaving room for Zerrik on the other end. Thea knelt on the ground, situating herself between his legs and resting her head on his thigh.
“It might pinch at first.” Easing down on to the hammock beside him, Zerrik took his wrist, but hesitated before lifting it to his mouth. “Are you sure about this? You don’t have to, Rhys.”
Despite what he’d said earlier, he did care about the guy, in the sense that he hated to see anyone suffer unnecessarily. There was enough of that going around without Zerrik adding to his own misery. Of course, Thea remained Rhys’ top priority. Not only did he worry that the vampire would eventually snap and possibly attack her, but Zerrik was her friend, a close friend from what she’d told him, and it hurt her to see him in pain. That, to him, was unacceptable.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
&nbs
p; The pinch lasted for less than a second, no more painful than the initial burn of a bee sting. The suction on his wrist, feeling his blood being drawn from his body, was strange, and his stomach rolled uncomfortably at the sensation. Ignoring his discomfort, he combed his fingers through Thea’s hair, focusing on her steady heartbeat, her even breaths, and the softness of her long tresses, letting her scent lull him.
Only a minute, maybe two, had passed when Zerrik extracted his fangs and lifted his head. He already looked better, less gaunt, and the shadows under his eyes had lightened considerably.
“I know that wasn’t easy for you, but thank you.”
Rhys shrugged, not knowing what to say. “You’re welcome” felt inappropriate and “my pleasure” would be a lie. So, instead of responding to the gratitude, he inquired about something that had been bothering him since they’d left the cabin.
“What that enforcer said to Kamara, is it true? Does fear make blood sweeter for you?”
Zerrik curled his lip in distaste. “Don’t believe that idiot. Fear produces high levels of acidity, and prolonged fear makes human blood taste extremely bitter.”
“Do you think that’s why they kept us all at the cabin, not just the ones they were planning to take to the coven?” When the alpha had arrived with his enforcers to take the humans, Rhys had been too angry to think rationally. Now, he had a hundred question and very few answers.
“To keep them calm?” Raising her head from his lap, Thea stared up at him, her brow creased and lips turned down at the corners. “I don’t know, Rhys. That seems like a stretch.”
“Hey,” Deke called, striding up the slight incline toward them. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“We’re good here.” Shaking his sleeve down over his wrist, Rhys stood, pulling his mate up with him. “What’s up?”
“So, Abby and Cade were taken, right? But, where’s Nik?”
Rhys didn’t know who Nik was, and Thea hadn’t mentioned him during their time together. As one, he, Deke, and Zerrik turned to her for the answer, but she looked as confused as Rhys felt.
“Nik?” Her brow furrowed, forming a deep V, and she tilted her head to the side. “I thought he was with you.”
* * * *
Prince Nikolai Diavolos paced the floor of the lavishly decorated office, the fall of his boots muffled in the thick, burgundy carpet.
“It’s been a week since we’ve heard from Lieutenant O’Malley. Something’s wrong.”
“She isn’t supposed to check in until tomorrow night,” Captain Cameron Dresden reminded him for the third time since their conversation had begun. “There’s no reason to think that anything is wrong.”
Throughout his very long life, Nikolai had never been in a position to call someone a friend. Deke, Roux, and the other members of the Revenant had trusted and accepted him despite his last name and who his father was. In the short time they’d spent together, they’d become more than just friends. They were his family.
It had killed him to sneak away from the bunker in Pittsburgh without even a goodbye, but it had felt like his only option at the time. If he’d told them his plan to hunt down his father, they would have insisted on following him. Elias Diavolos had proven himself a formidable enemy, unafraid to kill everyone standing in his way on his quest for power, including his own son.
Nikolai should have died in Trinity Grove. In fact, his father had been counting on it when he’d ripped his fangs out and left him in a jail cell to be found by the Revenant. Though Deke had every reason to hate him, the captain had spared his life and brought him into the fold of the Revenant. In a few short hours, Deke had shown him more kindness than he’d known in his entire life, and it was a debt he could never repay.
Leaving the captain, his mate, and their friends to suffer at the hands of psychotic werewolves wasn’t an option, but he couldn’t fight the entire pack on his own.
In the search for his father, Nikolai had started with the prominent families living in prosperous communities, both vampire and shifter. Elias was on the run, likely seeking safe haven with another royal family, and since communications had been closed between cities, it was unlikely that anyone had yet heard of the events that transpired in Trinity Grove. His father was charming, charismatic, and his potential host would never know what kind of sadistic bastard they’d welcomed into their home until their family had been slaughtered in their sleep.
Astride a dusty and dented, red Honda CTX he’d found in a parking garage a mile from the bunker, he’d arrived at his first stop in Jasper, Indiana before sunrise. A small town outside of the Hoosier National Forest, Jasper was home to the Kashi family of fox shifters. The Kashis had fed him and offered him a place to sleep, but there had been no sign of his father, so he’d moved on, reaching Salem, Illinois just before dark, but he hadn’t found what he sought there, either.
Bypassing St. Louis, his next stop had brought him to Valley Falls, Kansas, and though no one had seen his father in over a year, it had been there that he’d learned of a pack of werewolves led by an alpha who could give Elias a run for his money. While sickened by the news, it hadn’t been his problem, and he’d almost left to continue his search until he’d overheard a conversation about a female shifter of Hispanic descent, accompanied by a female human who looked like a Barbie, and a male vampire with silver hair.
“Are you even listening to me?” Captain Dresden demanded, seemingly losing patience with the conversation.
“I’m listening.” He just hadn’t heard anything to change his mind. “What I’m hearing is that you’ve known about this for months. Some of your own people were taken by the pack seven fucking months ago, and you did nothing!”
“The pack is at least sixty strong, with high-powered firearms, and a horde of Ravagers.” Leaning back in his leather desk chair, Cameron threaded his fingers through his short, thinning brown hair and growled. “Even with the addition of the guards who escaped the bunker, there’s still only seventeen of us. What would you have me do, Nik?”
“You sent the Warden. Too little too late, but you sent her.”
Cameron’s amber eyes narrowed, and he sat forward quickly, leaning his elbows on his desk. “She wasn’t the first. I’ve sent four people into that fucking city, and not a single one of them has returned. We don’t know where the prisoners are held, or even if they’re all held in the same place. When Deidra was taken, they put her alone in an underground cell for three days.” He sighed and fell back into his chair, his anger deflating. “So, I ask again. What would you have me do?”
“Send me.” He was still a well-known and respected member of a ruling family, and he’d inherited more from his father than his blond hair and dark brown eyes. When needed, he could be just as cunning, just as calculating. “I can get the information you need.”
“How do you plan to get in? These wolves are crazy, but they’re not stupid.”
“I’m Prince Nikolai Diavolos. My name alone opens doors.” He hated his father, and he hadn’t seen either of his brothers, nor his sister, in nearly a decade, but he’d use his family’s name to his benefit if it saved his friends. “I’ll tell them I’m in the market for a new blood slave.” Tilting his head back, he opened his mouth to reveal the gaping holes where his fangs should have been. “I had a run in with some Hunters, and it’ll be a while before I can feed properly again.”
“That still doesn’t solve the problem of us being outnumbered and outgunned.”
Kansas City housed the biggest Revenant bunker in the United States, the midway point on the long and dangerous journey to Olympia. Located in an abandoned hotel, it was home to more than forty Revenant guards, and while they couldn’t all come to their aid and leave the bunker unprotected, if even half of them answered the call, they tripled their chances of success.
“Why haven’t you reached out to them?”
“I did. I sent three of my people to Kansas City to request aid. They never returned, and I haven’t heard anything from the team
stationed there. That was four months ago.” Rising from his chair, the captain circled the mahogany desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t keep dangling my guys on a hook and hoping something bites.”
“We have three weeks until the next full moon. I’ll stop in Kansas City on my way to St. Louis.”
“And I’m just supposed to trust that they’ll help us.”
“They’ll come.” Nikolai would make sure of it. He couldn’t take a cell phone into the pack’s camp, but there might be another way for him to contact the captain once he’d gathered the information they needed. “You said Deidra’s cell phone still has a signal? So, the pack hasn’t found it yet.”
“Or, she’s fine, and she’ll check in on schedule.”
“Either way, I’ll use her phone to contact you with the information you need. The other guards will meet you outside of the city before sundown the night of the full moon.”
“Why are you so sure this will work?”
Nikolai weighed his words before answering. “Because it has to.”
They’d left it at that for the day, and it had taken another week before he’d finally convinced the captain. Then, only with the caveat that Nikolai secure at least half of the guards stationed in Kansas City for the rescue attempt. Cameron still believed it was a suicide mission, and maybe he was right, but Nikolai had to try, and he couldn’t do it alone.
It had taken nearly three days to gather the necessary supplies before setting out for the Revenant bunker, then two more to reach his destination. He’d taken side roads, dirt roads, doubled back again and again, and even looped around the city twice to make sure he hadn’t been followed.
Charlotte Street in downtown Kansas City stood as a ghostly reminder of the world they’d left behind. Cars lined the cracked street, some rusted, most covered in debris. Apart from dead leaves and discarded trash, nothing moved. No lights illuminated the buildings, no streetlamps, no flare of headlights. This part of the world had been forsaken, left to die and be reclaimed by nature.
Coming to a stop beneath a tin awning in front of a beleaguered hotel with plywood covering the windows and vines creeping over the entrance, Nikolai cut the engine and dismounted his motorcycle.
