Shadow of Thorns (Midnight's Crown Book 2)

by Ripley Proserpina

  Valen breathed deeply. “Multiple humans. Most of the scents sick. Rotten. Drugs probably.” He spun slowly, gaze on the water and then the warehouses. “That one.” He pointed. “I’ll clear it out.”

  He was gone before the sound of his voice had disappeared in the air. Without vampire sight, Hudson never would have discriminated the blur of gray as a person from a windstorm of dust and dirt.

  In his arms, Valen held what appeared to be a pile of rags, but from the smell of piss and vomit, was a human. He brought the pile into the closest warehouse before disappearing and reappearing again, this time with an armload of garbage bags probably containing all the man’s worldly possessions. Taking his cue from his brother, Sylvain took off, removing another human.

  In a matter of minutes, the warehouse was clear.

  Without a backward glance, Hudson strode toward the building. As soon as he entered, he understood why Valen had chosen this place. While it was going to be destroyed at the end of the day, right now, it was perfect. The windows were covered with steel bars or plywood, and the humans who’d staked the place out hadn’t been here long. The scent was fresh, but there’d only been the three humans. The boards and bars had done the trick and kept out most of humanity.

  Catwalks and grates hung from the ceiling, and the floor was full of machinery.

  Sylvain reached for the hem of his shirt and dragged it over his head. He made as if to toss it but grimaced at the dirt and bird shit on the ground.

  Yeah. They’d been too long in civilization if the caveman hesitated dirtying his shirt.

  Sylvain tucked it into his back pocket and cracked his knuckles, fangs gleaming white as he smiled.

  The rest of the day was spent fighting. It had been years since Valen or Sylvain had held a weapon in their hands, but as soon as Hudson handed them out, a fire lit in their eyes.

  Perhaps it’d done something to them to stifle this part of who they were. After all, Valen and Sylvain had been hunters and warriors before they became vampires, unlike himself and Marcus, who had lived as farmers and shepherds respectively.

  Something relaxed in Hudson as the day went on. He battled Valen hand-to-hand, and then Sylvain, under Valen’s direction. “Don’t expose your neck, Sylvain. Twist! For shit’s sake, man, all he’ll need to do is grab a hank of your hair and you’re dead. Fucking-A, Sylvain.”

  By the end of the day, as the light streaming through the dirty windows dulled and threw the warehouse into darkness, the three of them were exhausted.

  But Hudson was satisfied. He knew what they needed to do, where they needed to focus.

  “I need to hunt,” Sylvain said. He retrieved his shirt from where Valen had tossed it on the ground after Sylvain had elbowed him in the nose.

  Hudson needed to hunt as well. He was covered head to toe in filth, and he was starving. Valen’s fangs had dropped at Sylvain’s pronouncement.

  As one, they ran out of the warehouse, north, to the less populated parts of Massachusetts. They hadn’t hunted together in decades, but they fell into rhythm immediately. Sylvain tracking, Valen and Hudson holding back.

  Silently, Sylvain pointed to a trail. A muddy path snaked through the trees, and then, as they followed it toward an open meadow, the grass parted.

  Sylvain stopped, and Hudson followed suit. Far off, a crow cawed, but it was the only sound save the wind. Except the branches weren’t moving as if there was a breeze. It was the tall grass ahead of them, swishing as an animal pushed through it.

  The monster in Hudson took over, and he rocketed through the field. Flying through the grass to his prey. Valen and Sylvain were behind him, but they would be out of luck, because this was his hunt, his kill.

  Red descended over his vision, and the next thing Hudson knew, Sylvain was tearing him away from the animal he cradled in his arms. “It’s time to go back.”

  Hudson hissed at him, but the next words brought him back to his senses.

  “Briar will be waiting for us.”

  It was all Hudson, and the monster, needed to hear. It was dark now, but his vision sharpened. He could make out Sylvain and Valen as if they stood in daylight. Both were still covered in dirt, but… Hudson glanced down at his shirt. Spots of blood dotted his jacket. He pushed away from the dead deer.

  He’d held it in his arms like he was embracing it. He glanced at it. The only sign of its demise were its brown eyes, sightless and open, and the puncture marks on its neck.

  “When was the last time you hunted?” Valen asked.

  God, when had he hunted? Since embedding himself in human society, he fed from blood banks, stole what he needed from the labs around Boston College. It had been years since he’d tracked and hunted.

  Hudson wiped his hand on his jeans, hoping the dark wash would hide the blood until he could shower. Briar had seen the monster in him before, but she didn’t need a reminder of what he was capable of.

  “Too long,” he answered. He’d been hiding who he was for too long. All of them had.

  His brothers didn’t comment. Sylvain rocked side to side while Valen seemed content to let him gather his wits before they left.

  “Ready?” Valen asked, and Hudson nodded. Thinking about Briar made him anxious to see her. He wanted to lay eyes on her.

  The trip home took minutes. All of them were ready to see the human who’d tied them to her.

  They hit the edges of the city and had to slow. Packed with humanity, they had to be careful about how they traveled. But Hudson had another goal.

  Every night, he patrolled the area around Boston College and Back Bay. He knew Asher was out here, waiting for them to make mistakes.

  And so Hudson watched for him and his soldiers. He followed the route Briar took to school, and looked for signs of Asher or places where she could be waylaid.

  He and Marcus had been systematic in their plans. Between the two of them, they’d set traps waiting to be sprung, and they’d taken turns guarding Briar.

  Purposefully, they hadn’t let Valen and Sylvain in on their plans.

  It wasn’t because he and Marcus didn’t trust them, but Valen and Sylvain were like dogs on a leash. And once they were off the leash, they would attack.

  They wouldn’t stop either. Hudson knew what would happen once he showed them how complacent they’d become.

  They’d become more protective and careful. But they’d be angrier.

  The focus Valen and Sylvain had put into controlling their vampires would lessen. They’d give into instincts they’d been fighting, the ones that told them to wrap Briar in bubble wrap and tear apart, piece-by-piece, anything that threatened her.

  The lights from Marcus’s house shone from tiny gaps between the blackout curtains. Valen and Sylvain redoubled their speed and tore past Hudson.

  God. He hoped Briar was ready for what was to come.

  ✽✽✽

  The first thing Hudson saw when he walked inside was Briar’s bright blue eyes and smile. A smile which grew even wider when she saw him.

  “Hey,” she said, her voice like a sigh. She had her head tucked against Sylvain’s chest, but as he shut the door behind him, she drew away and started toward him.

  Had anyone ever been happy to see him before? Hudson didn’t think so. Even though she’d just been in his brother’s arms, she made him feel as if he was the only man in the world.

  He met her halfway across the room before he even realized he’d been moving. She stopped an inch away and put one hand on her hip. “Where have you been?” she asked, accent rolling the vowels in a way that made him want to close his eyes.

  “I was with Sylvain and Valen,” he answered. Her hair shown in the yellow light, and he touched it. It was smooth under his palm, but he paused as a spot of dried blood on the back of his hand caught his attention. Before he could withdraw it, however, she’d placed her hand on his to hold it in place.

  “You stood me up, today.”

  Hudson’s eyes widened, and Sylvain barked a laugh.
Valen patted him on the shoulder as he walked by. “It happens to the best of us.”

  “You’ve grown complacent,” Sylvain boomed, doing a horrible impression of his voice.

  “I can’t believe I—” Hudson stared at Briar in horror. She’d been at college all day, unprotected. After he’d ripped Sylvain and Valen apart for doing the same thing.

  “I was there,” Marcus said quickly. “Your car was missing from the parking lot, and I knew. You moved the timetable up, didn’t you?”

  “The timetable?” Briar asked, head canting to the side as she studied him. “What timetable? What’s going on?”

  Hudson sighed. Here he was, so full of himself, and he’d messed up.

  General Hudson Nors. Full of his own self-righteousness, forgot the fucking center of his entire universe.

  None of Hudson’s plans included filling Briar in on what they would face. Or what he planned. He wanted her to go about life in blissful ignorance.

  She narrowed her eyes, an adorable crease forming between her light brows. He touched it with his thumb, an action he’d seen his brothers do as well. Her skin was smooth, and he continued to touch her, trailing his thumb along her eyebrows. “Can I take a shower first?” he asked. If he was going to do this, it had to be without the dried blood of his hunt on his body.

  Hudson wanted to hold her close while he spoke. Her scent, her beautiful scent of heat and sunshine, turned, and a bitter ribbon of fear wafted from her.

  Perhaps it was better if she was afraid. Just a little. Just enough to keep her safe.

  “Okay,” she whispered, but he didn’t miss the way her voice trembled. “Okay, I’ll wait here.”

  Hudson tried to force his body to step back, but the vampire inside him rejected the move. It wouldn’t let him release her when she stared at him with fear in her eyes. Protect her. Change her. She’ll be stronger if you do.

  “I got this,” Valen said, sliding his arm around Briar’s shoulders. “Go.”

  Briar allowed him to turn her and lead her to the couch, but her gaze remained on Hudson.

  The vampire relaxed his hold, and Hudson dashed upstairs. He showered in seconds and rushed back to Briar, yanking his t-shirt over his damp chest.

  She waited for him, hands clasped tightly in her lap. She twirled a thick strand of honey-brown hair around and around her finger, red scar bright against the paleness of her skin. It only served to remind him how injured she’d been at Asher’s command.

  War was coming.

  He might not hear the soldiers’ boots on the ground or see the smoke from their campfires, but he felt them on the horizon.

  Chapter Three

  Briar

  Hudson’s shirt clung to him, the muscles he usually hid under button-up shirts and suit jackets, starkly outlined. Sylvain and Valen wore their strength with every movement, every flex or reach. But Hudson’s was less obvious.

  Not now. She’d noticed it since they’d frightened her all those weeks ago in Hudson’s lab. His jaw was harder, shoulders straighter, and he wore a calculating look. Sometimes he looked at her, and she wondered if he even saw her or only her weakness.

  Time and again, his gaze lingered on her scars, and she knew what he was seeing.

  Asher.

  They thought she didn’t know what they were doing. But Briar was far from stupid. Someone was always with her, and today, Marcus took the entire day from work, cancelled his lectures, to tag along to her classes and then to Hudson’s lab. He helped her plot data points.

  Upstairs, the shower turned on and then off a few minutes later. His footsteps were quiet thumps over the old floorboards above her head.

  Briar had to give him credit. Even though they were about to have a difficult conversation, he didn’t avoid her, taking longer than he needed to clean up. “Tell me,” she said as soon as Hudson sat across from her.

  At once, he deflated, shoulders curving inward as he dropped his face into his hands. He rubbed them down his smooth cheeks and then back into his hair, slicking the dark strands from his face. When he finally met her eyes, she could see his vampire, right beneath the surface.

  Sliding forward to the edge of the cushions, she took his hands. “You’re watching out for me. Protecting me. Did you go searching for Asher today? Is that what you don’t want me to know?”

  He stared down then, at her hands covering his, but didn’t answer.

  “I know what you’ve been doing,” she whispered. “All of you. You never leave me alone. Each one of you stays an arm’s length away.” She peered at Marcus and then back at him. “Even when I sleep.”

  She glanced toward the windows and wondered what time it was. Her head throbbed, and she rubbed her temples, but the thought of going to sleep built a knot of worry in her stomach.

  “Yes,” Hudson answered quietly, propping his elbows on his knees. “Yes, we expect him to come after you again. So yes, we’ve been watching, and waiting. And now, we’re preparing.”

  “Preparing to catch him?” she asked.

  “No,” Sylvain answered. He leaned, arms crossed, against the wood molding separating the living room from the dining room. “No, we’re not going to catch him. We’re going to kill him.”

  If they thought she’d be surprised, she wasn’t. “Okay.”

  Sylvain rocked back and bumped his head into the wall. He turned to glare at it, like it had jumped out of nowhere and knocked his head on purpose. Briar hid her face behind her hand before he caught her grinning.

  “Okay?” Hudson said. He glanced at Valen and Marcus before her. “Okay. Good.”

  “So how can I help?”

  “Help?” Hudson asked, and she nearly rolled her eyes.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I want to help you. What can I do?”

  Sylvain snorted and dropped his arms. “Briar. This is war. There’s no place for you in it.”

  She inhaled before answering, reminding herself that Sylvain had views about human women that were… outdated… to say the least.

  Valen cleared his throat and offered an olive branch. “If we think of something, little one, we’ll let you know.”

  Briar nodded. They didn’t think she could help, but they were wrong. If she was smart enough to recognize chromosomes, she was smart enough to strategize.

  Like any new subject, she’d need to study to fully grasp the concept of war. But she could do it. War would be like a chemistry experiment. Mix a little history with a little philosophy, maybe throw in some psychology, and there she’d have it.

  For now, though, it wasn’t worth a fight. She’d take the same tactic with the guys that she had with her mother when she’d decided she’d be moving to Boston.

  Briar had made a plan and then set to work seeing that plan through to fruition. It started with getting her undergraduate degree online and ended with financial aid received and a deposit on the tiny little apartment she still missed. That apartment had been her first taste of independence and freedom. So while, if given a choice, she’d pick her life with the guys in their fancy digs, part of her missed that momentary triumph. She sighed.

  Making the guys understand that she could help them would take a similar strategy. But she was patient; she could do it.

  “Don’t worry,” Marcus said quickly, misinterpreting her melancholy. “We’re going to be careful.”

  “I was thinking about my old apartment.” Briar stood. Marcus observed her from a seat near the window, and she went to him, dropping a kiss on his head. “I know you’ll be careful,” she whispered.

  Her backpack sat near the door, and she went to get it. Just the thought of dinner turned her stomach. She’d grab cereal later on, but for now, she might as well get some studying in before her headache grew too big to ignore.

  Hudson continued to study her as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She probably hadn’t fooled him as well as she thought, but she hadn’t given him enough to argue with. She hadn’t demanded to be included, nor had she demanded they
stop tracking Asher.

  “I’m going to study,” she said and smiled. From the frowns on their faces, they were probably all suspicious of her. “Promise. I’ll just be upstairs.” She pointed to the ceiling. “All are welcome.”

  “Go on, little one.” Valen crossed to her and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be up in a little while.”

  She gave a two fingered wave from where she held her bag in place before trekking upstairs. Her room was dark and cool. Quiet. Instead of turning on the overhead light, she felt her way to her desk and turned on the small lamp there.

  What was she going to do about these guys?

  Not to minimize her role in the whole thing, but Asher didn’t want her. He wanted the guys. In addition to keeping her alive, they should really be planning how to protect each other from Asher’s machinations.

  Briar sat in her chair with a thump. Ha. Machinations. That was a very war-like word. She was already making strides.

  Tonight, chemistry and biology held no appeal for her. If she was going to be any help, she needed to start her research now. Mind whirring, she made a mental lists of things, authors, and topics to investigate.

  Briar found her laptop. As it fired up, she drummed her fingers on the desk.

  As far as she was concerned, the past only mattered as much as Hudson, Sylvain, Marcus, and Valen wanted it to. Briar’s feelings for them had slid easily from like to love, even though she hadn’t told them that. Marcus had said something to her this morning. You feel important.

  Well, they felt important to her, too. They felt vital. So while she suspected they had fallen as fast and as deep as she had, she hadn’t pushed them.

  The screen on her computer glowed, and she quickly typed in her password before calling up a search engine and typing, “Roman generals.”

  Briar had only scratched the surface of the guys’ pasts. If she touched on something that seemed to bother them, something they weren’t quite ready to share, she let it go, figuring they had time for revelations. It did no one any good if she picked at injuries that had barely healed.