Release Me When the Sun Goes Down

by Lisa Olsen

  “Yep, right here.” I set the box on the coffee table and opened it. We all stared down at the golden weapon, no one eager to touch it except for Jakob.

  “Give it to me now,” he said, taking a step toward the box, but I blocked his path. Apparently, he didn’t know about the shieldmaidens only rule.

  “Ah, you know, about that. I can’t…”

  “Knock, knock.” Lodinn’s voice sounded from the porch through the door we’d left standing open. “I’m not too late for the party this time, am I? I brought a date and everything.” Hanna stood by his side, looking way more placid than she had a right to be given the situation. Gunnar was nowhere in sight, and I tried not to read too much into that.

  “Lodinn,” Jakob ground the name out between his teeth. “You may have found me but you can’t enter. You can not hope to defeat me here.”

  “No? You sure about that?” Lodinn met my gaze and I gave him a slow nod. He stepped through the doorway without impediment, pulling my sister with him, his smile stretching wide. “I’m feeling pretty good about my chances, how about we finish this up tonight?”

  “But the spell…” Jakob gasped. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d removed it with Laveda’s help, how deep my deception ran just yet. “Anja, give me the spear now, quickly.”

  I ignored him, my gaze trained on Hanna. “I delivered him to you as promised, now give me my sister.”

  “I believe there was another part to that deal.”

  “I told you I won’t do it, I won’t kill Jakob.”

  “Of course she won’t, my Anja would never betray me like that,” Jakob boasted. “Give the spear to me now, petal.” His hand stretched out to me but it was Lodinn I approached with the golden weapon in my hand.

  “Take it and give me my sister.” I wasn’t sure what it would do to him if he touched it. If it would burn his skin or fall to the ground like Mjolnir in the Avengers movies if someone unworthy tried to hold it, but I was counting on it doing something. All I needed was the briefest of distractions to make my move.

  “Take her, I’m done with her anyway.” He shoved Hanna away, her eyes clouding with uncomprehending shock in that sudden rejection and Lee stepped up to pull her out of harm’s way. Lodinn’s gaze was riveted to the golden blade. His hand struck out, but instead of reaching for the spear, he had something else in mind.

  “You on the other hand.” He caught hold of my wrist and spun me around, one arm wrapping around my shoulders to trap me against his body, the other catching my hand in an iron grip, holding the tip of the spear away from us. “Did you think I wouldn’t know?” he said, his voice low and intimate by my ear as he forced me forward, advancing on Jakob, who watched with stricken eyes. “Why else do you think I sent you down there instead of stealing it for myself? I said I wanted to see Jakob die by your hand, remember?”

  My heart sank as the distraction I’d been hoping for never materialized. “I can’t, please don’t make me.”

  “I told you I’d fix your motivation problems if you got me the spear.”

  Panic set in. If I lost my free will it was all over. “Please… please don’t compel me to kill him.”

  “No, this is much better. This way you’ll both feel it so much more.” The tip of the spear waved in Jakob’s direction. “Get on your knees.”

  “Don’t do this,” Jakob pleaded. “Let her go and we will fight like men.”

  “On your knees or she’ll be the one to get cut.” He angled my wrist, forcing the spear into the soft folds of my shirt, making me suck in a breath to avoid the sharp tip.

  “No!” Jakob cried out, his hands coming up in an impotent plea. “I submit to you, only let my Anja go.” He went down on one knee and then the other, his hands lowering meekly.

  “Aw, that’s so sweet. You really love her, don’t you?” The spear moved away from my belly and I drew in a shaky breath, trying to gauge the right time to act. I saw Bishop tense over my shoulder, but gave him a slow shake of the head. If he moved now Lodinn would surely anticipate it.

  “I do.”

  “As much as I loved my wife, do you think?” Lodinn considered aloud. “Are you willing to sacrifice your life for hers?”

  “I am, if you give me your word you will set her free.”

  “Oh, I’ll set her free alright,” he promised. “Once I have what I want.”

  “Then be quick about it.” Jakob’s head bent to one side, exposing the strong cords of his neck and Lodinn brought our joined hands up, resting the heavy blade against his throat. I had to move, I had to do something before it was too late.

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Lodinn forced my hand, faster than my eye could track, slicing a shallow gash against Jakob’s throat. The air became spiced with the scent of Jakob’s blood and I felt my fangs descend in spite of my growing horror. It wasn’t a deep wound, but it would never heal, and I knew it was only the first of many to come.

  Lodinn’s revenge wouldn’t be had in a quick spurt of blood, I could see that now. He would make it last. Maybe he would even feed each and every one of us to Jakob in order to prolong his life just to watch him bleed out again. I could feel his arousal pressed against the small of my back, the bastard was getting off on this. I had to move, I had to do something before it was too late.

  The door flew open and I caught sight of Rob’s fury a split second before Bishop sprang into action and tackled him before he screwed everything up. It was my worst fear, but I used it to my advantage, taking the opportunity of the distraction to make my move. My shoe stomped against Lodinn’s instep at the same time my head came back to smash him in the nose, my body twisting in the same instant like Rob had taught me, but it wasn’t enough, he was too strong.

  Instead of snapping my neck, Lodinn gave a low chuckle. “Did you get it out of your system? Do you understand now?” he said, giving me a shake that made my teeth rattle. “You have no choice here. The only thing you can do is submit, and hope for a quick end.”

  Hanna gasped, but Lee held her steady. I heard a similar struggle coming from Rob and Bishop, but I couldn’t see them. “Be still, Rob,” I ordered, hoping it kept him from doing anything stupid. There hadn’t been a single moment when I thought Lodinn might let me walk out of there alive, I didn’t feel the need to curse his not-so-sudden and inevitable betrayal.

  “You said you would set her free.” Jakob started to rise and our joined hands flashed out again, piercing Jakob in the shoulder this time.

  “And I shall. I’ll set her free of all the pain and sadness you’ve heaped onto her lovely shoulders.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder, leaving his chin to rest there as he held me close. “Hanna told me all about it. How you forced her into this life and then terrorized her, forcing her to accept your charms.”

  “That’s not true, she knows I love her,” Jakob balked.

  “But did it ever occur to you to ask her if she loved you back?” Lodinn pressed. “No? Not even once?” He straightened, shaking his head. “Let’s hear it, Anja, do you love him?”

  I had a choice. I could’ve refused to answer, but that might’ve made him compel me to tell the truth and I didn’t want to go there. “No, I don’t.”

  “Ooh, that’s gotta hurt more than the spear here. Does it?” The blade lashed out again to prick his chest right over his heart. “Which hurts more, my father’s spear or the truth?”

  Jakob didn’t reply, his head hanging low as the blood continued to seep from his wounds. I had to do something.

  At the edge of my vision I could see that Bishop had been able to subdue Rob to keep him from interfering, and neither one of them looked too happy about it. Lee kept a steady hold on Hanna, keeping to his instructions. At the first hint of danger, he was to get her to safety and leave the rest of it to me.

  But I was trapped, no chance of the distraction I’d had in mind and with Bishop holding Rob back, I didn’t have my plan B anymore. There were more maneuvers I could try to break the hold he had over me;
I’d trained long and hard with Rob on this kind of a situation, only with Lodinn being so much stronger and faster than me, I couldn’t count on any of it to make him let me go. But there was one ace left up my sleeve, my memories of Rob’s teachings firmly placed in my mind.

  Gritting my teeth against the pain, I gave a sharp lurch, hot agony lancing through me as my arm broke. Quick as anything Lodinn shifted his hold on me but I’d gotten what I needed, a few inches play. More than enough to send the dart full of ACBT straight into his thigh.

  There wouldn’t be that much pain. I don’t think he even noticed it, not at first. By the time he pulled the dart free it had done its duty. “What the hell…” he muttered, studying the tiny device. “Is that the best you’ve got?” He laughed, sending pain all up my broken arm as the bones ground together. “That’s your master plan? To dose me up with… hey, what is this stuff? It packs quite a kick.”

  Bishop shoved Rob aside, his gun coming up to shoot Lodinn in the back with two more darts and now the Ellri’s grip faltered. I wrenched myself away, the spear head clattering to the ground as my injured arm could no longer support the weight.

  “No!” Hanna screamed as Lodinn stumbled backward, his face an exaggerated mask of worry now that he could feel the effects of the drug. I tried to ignore the fact that my sister seemed more broken up about Lodinn’s pain than my own, with any hope his hold over her would break very soon.

  “What did you…?”

  “Let’s give him one more before I finish it, just to be on the safe side,” I ordered, not quite ready to tangle with him yet, even in this weakened state. We had absolutely no idea how far the ACBT would affect him, even with multiple shots.

  Bishop handed the tranquilizer gun over to Rob, who took two seconds to aim and shot Lodinn in the neck, easy peasey. I flashed him a grateful smile before bending to pick up the spear with my left hand.

  Lodinn staggered back from the last hit, his balance clearly affected. “You can’t… the law…” he said, crashing into my coffee table as his eye filled up with blood.

  “I am the law here,” I said, my voice cold as I saw his panic welling faster than the blood. “Did anyone here see who struck down this Ellri?”

  “No, Your Grace.” Bishop spoke in a firm voice, and the others in the room echoed his reply, including Jakob who hadn’t risen from his knees, his wounds still bleeding profusely.

  I struck hard and fast, plunging the spear into Lodinn’s thigh, pinning him to the ground since he couldn’t attempt to remove it. “That’s for my sister.”

  “Anja, no!” Hanna screamed at his howl of pain, falling to her knees, her cheeks wet with tears as she reached for him, but Lee held her fast.

  Lodinn turned to her, his hand reaching out in kind. “It wasn’t all a lie for me,” he said, swallowing weakly as he bled out. “Maybe if I’d met you a hundred years ago.” A smile curved his lips for half a moment and then it was gone, his gaze sliding to where Jakob sat, hand pressed to his bleeding neck. “Hun er ikke død, du vet. Din favoritt. Jeg har holdt henne hele tiden, fantaserer som et dyr. Nå vil du aldri finne henne.”

  Jakob was across the room in a flash, bloody hands grasping at Lodinn’s shirt. “Where is she?” he demanded, shaking him roughly.

  “I guess I have my final revenge in the end, don’t I?”

  He gave Lodinn another shake, but there was no use, the combination of the drug and the spear sending him beyond Jakob’s wrath. My Sire let go of him, sitting back in a stupor, his own wounds forgotten. Even in his death-like state, Lodinn held onto the smirk that made me want to drop kick his head into the nearest fireplace, but I went to my sister’s side instead. Hanna wept quietly in Lee’s arms, refusing to look at me when I tried to pry her out of his hold.

  “Why isn’t she better?”

  “He’s not dead yet, he’s only bled out. You’ll have to finish him,” Bishop said woodenly, but I was too distracted to read anything into it, especially when Rob appeared at my side, all traces of anger gone in his worry.

  “You alright?”

  “Nothing a little blood won’t fix.” It sounded brave, but my arm hurt like hell, especially when he helped me pull the bones straight again, binding my arm tight with a ripped up tablecloth. I squinched my eyes shut against the pain, turning my focus inward until I could open them again, but I refused to take any of his blood. Maybe later, but not there in front of Jakob, who still sat in a daze beside Lodinn’s body, bleeding all over my floor.

  “Jakob?” I said softly, standing over him, and he looked up at me dully. “Where is who?”

  “It hardly matters now.” I’d never heard him so utterly devoid of life, beaten and destroyed. “Leave me to die in peace.”

  “I have something that can help you.” I drew out the tiny blue vial, swinging it across his field of vision, but Rob caught my hand.

  “Don’t give it to him, take it for yourself. Maeja gave it to you, not him.”

  “My arm will heal, his wounds won’t.”

  Jakob’s eyes widened in wonder, a spark of interest igniting. “You have Maeja’s blood? Give it to me, petal, I grow weak.”

  The vial swung back and forth as I considered my options. I could cure him, sure, or I could do nothing. Even if I never killed him the way we planned to get rid of Lodinn, I could let him bleed out until he completely desiccated and then he’d be out of the way, all my problems solved.

  He must have seen my inner debate because his head shook slowly back and forth. “No, you wouldn’t…”

  “Wouldn’t I?” I caught up the vial, clutching it in my fist. “You took my life, Jakob. You turned it utterly upside down just like Lodinn said. You did every single thing he accused you of. Who’s the real monster in this room?”

  “But… I saved you in Vetis.”

  “Only because Lodinn came after me to flush you out. Every bad thing that’s happened to me is because of you.”

  Horror dawned on him that I very well might make good on my threat and his Adam’s apple bobbed while he searched for the right thing to say. “Please, älskling, I beg of you…”

  “But… you’ve also made me more than I ever could’ve been when I was alive and that counts for something,” I said with a sigh. “I will spare your life on two conditions.

  “Name them.”

  “Let me go. I want you to not only renounce any claim to me but leave the West alone. You can go be a God among vamps somewhere else as long as it’s out of my territory.”

  “You can’t mean that,” he gaped. “You wish me to leave?”

  “I do. There isn’t any danger here, and as you can see, I can take care of myself just fine.” I took a breath, the vial pressing deep into my fingers. “And there’s no point in you sticking around because I’m in love with Rob. I’m sick and tired of pretending I don’t feel that way because I’m too afraid of what you’ll do if you find out. We deserve a chance to be together so I don’t want any reprisals on him or his family either. If you have a problem with it you keep it to yourself, away from here.” I was aware of Rob’s sharp intake of breath behind me but I couldn’t look at him, not until I saw how Jakob took it.

  I braced myself for anger or even fury but only shock registered on Jakob’s face. “You wish for Rob as your second demand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Rob,” he repeated it as if he couldn’t be sure I meant who he thought.

  “Yes.”

  “You love him,” he said slowly, as if the words were foreign.

  “Yes, I do,” I said patiently.

  Jakob’s gaze shifted over my shoulder to Rob. “And do you love her in return?”

  “I do.”

  The house was utterly quiet but for the snuffling cries of my sister against Lee’s chest. We waited for Jakob to say something, anything, and finally he gave a short laugh, shaking his head. “Very well.”

  “That’s it? Very well?” I blinked, his underwhelming response throwing me off balance.

 
“What would you have me say?” he said with a tired sigh. “I wouldn’t think to come between the bond between Sire and progeny. I accept your terms.”

  That didn’t jibe with what Bishop had told me about his relationship with Carys at all. But as I glanced over to Bishop I found him lost in thought and I don’t even think he heard a word we said.

  “Thank you,” I said carefully, still not daring to turn my back on him to look to Rob. “Oh, here, take this.” I handed over the vial of Maeja’s blood and he snapped it open, downing the contents in one swallow. His eyes closed for a long moment until he let out a deep sigh of relief, drawing in a full breath. That stuff sure worked fast. Cool beans.

  Jakob pushed himself to his knees, healed, but I could tell he’d need to feed pretty soon in his weakened state. “Only one thing remains before I take my leave. There can be no chance of Lodinn’s return.” In a swift stroke, Jakob reached into Lodinn’s chest and tore out what was left of his black heart. His body didn’t decompose like a vampire’s, it just sat there, shriveled and gross in the congealing blood.

  Hanna gave a last cry and then went utterly still, her eyes freakishly wide as her mind cleared. I’m such an idiot. I had these visions of her being released from Lodinn’s spell, like that would magically make it all better, but of course it only meant her nightmare had just begun. It was almost worse as her body wracked with fresh sobs as the enormity of what had happened to her sunk in. I hated to see her in so much pain, but at the same time I couldn’t bring myself to erase any of it without her permission. The only thing I could do was try to be there for her and hope she didn’t blame me too much for being the cause of it all.

  “Rob?” I said softly, and he was already dialing his phone.

  “I’m on it.” He gave the briefest of rundowns to Mason, asking him to get there pronto.

  Jakob hauled himself to his feet, brushing the mess on his hands absently on his jeans. “And now I must take my leave of you as promised. Go with my blessing, enjoy your time together.” He laid a soft kiss to my brow in benediction. “Be well, Anja. I will not trouble you further unless it is at your request. But know that you have only to call.”