Ellowyn Found: An MM Vampire Trilogy Omnibus Edition Books 1 - 3

by Kayleigh Sky

  Isaac!

  He didn’t deserve the human, didn’t deserve love, but goddamn the world to hell he wasn’t going to fail one more time.

  He bounced off the wall where the tunnel curved and pushed on. Anin appeared. He sped up, brain spinning, dimming into nothing but chaos and a coiling, raging storm. He caught up with Anin as the vampire burst into the chamber that had belched fire. The air spun in violent currents. Confusion forced him back into his body. As the ground swooped up, he twisted to get his feet under him, and his gaze swept one of the other tunnels.

  And a face.

  Pale and split with laughter.

  He tumbled onto the floor on the opposite side of the chamber and scrambled onto his knees. Anin raced toward him.

  Rune roared, “NO!”

  But it was too late. He was always too late. He locked gazes with Anin as realization dawned in the vampire. Anin backpedaled, and flames erupted, raging and gusting toward the scorched ceiling. Screams reverberated off the walls, waffling through the heated roar of the fire.

  Oh, god no.

  “Anin!”

  Rune grabbed fistfuls of his hair, pulling it, but the pain did nothing to distract him.

  Another scream echoed, this one shrill and broken.

  It took no more than a minute, maybe two for the flames to recede. Rune dimmed, buffeted by the currents through the heat-waffled air until he took form again on the chamber’s other side. Uriah stood with a hand to his forehead, the other clamped to the back of his neck. Sweat dripped from his skin, and a shiver racked him. Camiel sprawled beside Anin, hugging Anin’s upper body. Sobs shook him.

  “No, no, no… Anin. Please don’t die. Please don’t.”

  Shocked that Anin wasn’t already dead, Rune reached for Camiel’s shoulder. Camiel wrenched his head around, his face a twisted mask of agony. “Do something!”

  What? What could anybody do for him? He was burned from the waist down, pants in cinders, flesh raw and bloody, cooked to a black crust in others. What was Rune supposed to do? But Camiel’s eyes blazed into his, as if calling on powers long lost to Rune, hidden in a mystery only Abadi had the key to.

  He licked his lips, fear crawling inside him. What if he couldn’t do it? He pretended he never questioned himself, never allowed panic or doubt, only anger. Qudim’s voice floated in his memory. “You rule only as much as their fear allows you. Be generous and ruthless. Show that all things come from you.”

  But all things didn’t come from him, and everyday his failures darkened and multiplied.

  “Get out of my way,” he said.

  Camiel looked back at Anin. He cupped the vampire’s waxy face and bent to his ear. “I love you. Just like you said.”

  Then he got up and stepped back.

  Anin shook, his breath coming in fast hitches. Tendrils of smoke rose off his legs. Rune straddled his body, resting his weight on a knee. He pushed his fangs from their sheaths, and the bright pain of it filled him with hunger. But he wasn’t here to drink. He ripped a diagonal slash across his wrist and slammed the bloody wound against Anin’s mouth.

  Nothing.

  With a finger between Anin’s teeth, he worked his mouth open wider. “Drink, Anin.”

  “Sire.” Worry grated at Uriah’s voice. “We can’t… heal.”

  “I can.”

  Show that all things come from you.

  Please god. Please.

  Tears stung his eyes. He’d only wanted to save people. How many was he going to kill to make his own destiny come true?

  And where was Isaac?

  “Feed!”

  The touch of Anin’s tongue made him gasp. Pain and heat followed Anin’s desperate swallows. He trembled on the hand and knee he held himself up with. Sweat dripped off his forehead though the heat of the fire had dissipated.

  “Cammy.” He sucked in a breath and coughed. “What’s happening?”

  “The burns are lighter. Pink in some places.”

  Rune fixed his gaze on the rapid back and forth of Anin’s eyes under his lids. Color spotted his cheeks. Rune blinked. A fine tremor ran up his arm, intensifying until he began to shake. Anin’s eyes opened.

  Rune bent, his lips close to Anin’s ear. “I can’t give anymore. You are Ellowyn, Anin.”

  Anin’s eyes burned dark with fear and doubt. But it was true. Though he’d lost too much fluid and blood to heal without Rune’s help, he was past that now. And Rune was fading. Anin had taken too much, and Rune still had to find Isaac.

  “Trust me,” he murmured.

  Anin blinked but let his fingers loosen. With a groan, Rune fell onto his side. A gray haze covered Anin’s shape, and his head spun, but he had more to do, and he grabbed onto the arm Uriah curled around him and sat up. Camiel was at Anin’s side again, cupping his cheek, pressing his face to Anin’s. He sobbed. “Mine.”

  “I’m with you now,” Anin whispered. “I’m with you.”

  Rune held on as Uriah dragged him to his feet. Camiel looked at him, tear-streaked and blotchy. “For fuck’s sake. This isn’t an adventure. Somebody hates your goddamn guts.”

  He was too tired to hold back his laugh. “I warned you, Cammy.”

  “I didn’t believe you.” Camiel’s face tightened, his eyes hard. “I wasn’t sure of you.”

  “I’m not yours to judge.”

  “We’re all in this.”

  “I’m going on. You and Uriah are taking Anin out.”

  “Sire…” Uriah shook his head. “I can’t leave you.”

  Rune forced a smile as a stab of grief went through him. “I need you to.” He crouched at Anin’s side again, bracing himself on a shaky arm. “Tell me what happened to Isaac.”

  Anin coughed and licked his bloodstained lips. Lines of pain cut into his face. “I don’t know. When I got to the outer chamber, he wasn’t there. I thought he’d just gotten ahead, but I didn’t see him. He was gone.”

  Rune steeled himself against the wave of cold that ran through him. He squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds. But of course. Look inside of you. What had possessed him to imagine this would ever turn out another way?

  He turned and stood again. Uriah grabbed his elbow and spoke under his breath. “You gave him too much. Let me stay with you.”

  He shook his head. “Anin will need you both.”

  “And the treasure?”

  “This is about the treasure.”

  “I’ll return,” Uriah said.

  He’d had been at Rune’s side since the Upheaval. Before Qudim had sunk into the worst of his blood thirst, Uriah had already abandoned him for Rune. Rune didn’t deserve that kind of loyalty, but neither had Qudim. The words I am honored died on his tongue. They were too formal for the emotions threatening to spill out of him, and for what was likely the last time he’d ever see his friend. “Thank you.”

  Uriah dipped his chin, picked up his pack, and slipped his arm through the straps.

  Hunched but sitting now, Anin fixed a dull stare into the distance.

  “Don’t worry,” Rune said. “He must come back a long way.”

  Camiel stroked Anin’s hair, then stood, and stepped to Rune’s side. “We must talk.”

  His instinct was to refuse—of all the times—but Camiel held his gaze in a way that drew Rune’s respect. He turned to Uriah. “Camiel will follow.”

  Uriah nodded and laid a blanket on the ground beside Anin. He was mostly naked now, his clothes in ash with the burnt crusts of his skin and blood. His body was pink and raw as though flayed, but only of the top layer of skin. But still… Anin’s grimace told them of the pain holding onto him. He moved to the blanket, and Uriah picked him up, cradling him gently against his chest.

  Camiel followed them with his gaze until they disappeared into the tunnel that had brought them here. Rune looked into the tunnel he’d seen the face in, but it was gone now.

  Camiel’s musing tone broke into his thoughts. “We came here on the way to Majallena, but from Kolnadia, so I di
dn’t recognize it.”

  Rune studied him, anger rising again, boiling and bubbling in his gut. Was Isaac going to pay for this? For trusting Camiel?

  “You said that. Speak, Camiel. I don’t have time.”

  Camiel took a breath. “You didn’t trust her, but she was no murderer. She was a high witch, sire. A priestess of Adini. Qudim wanted her power, but she claimed to have none, so he exiled her to Kolnadia. He feared her and sent his most trusted enforcer to spy on her.”

  Rune sneered. “You were ten years old. I remember the fights. She attacked Dawn and Jessa.”

  “Someone did, but not her. Someone who did no harm because they were under orders to do no harm. Qudim didn’t want Abadi dead, because her power would go with her. He wanted to force her hand, but the Nezzarrams would have risen again if he had exiled her for no reason, and everyone was tired of war.”

  “Why would she go if she had this power?”

  “You,” said Camiel. “To keep his attention off of you.”

  “I was his son. His heir. I had his attention.”

  “As a royal prince. That’s all she wanted him to see.”

  “That’s all there was.”

  “I know of no vampire who can heal another vampire. Or dim into a fog.”

  Rune’s jaw clenched tight against his will. He fought to relax it. “What do you want?”

  “To serve you, sire. I’m not your enemy.”

  Something that had confused him and skirted the edges of his consciousness suddenly became clear. “It was you. You had the other part of the map. It wasn’t Isaac who was supposed to get it. It was Anin.”

  Pain flashed in Camiel’s eyes. “Yes. I… I sent one of my cousins. I didn’t tell him what he was carrying.”

  Rune drew his hands down his face and looked down the tunnel where somebody had stood watching them. “I don’t have time for this, Camiel.”

  But that wasn’t true, because the puzzle pieces of Abadi and the treasure and the Lotises had begun to fall into place. He had no doubt now that Isaac was safe, at least for a time, and he needed every weapon he had.

  “Do you know what the shrine is for?”

  Camiel drew in a breath. “It holds the last necklace and the last cipher.”

  So it was real. As he’d always thought. A surge of energy ran through him, and he let his fangs slide out again.

  That necklace was his. The treasure his. And the desire for it was as hot as blood hunger.

  Isaac! I am near!

  But he couldn’t go to him. Not yet. He grabbed Camiel’s arm and pushed him from the chamber.

  45

  Vowing Not To Lose

  Isaac!

  The sound came from far away, and Isaac’s lungs had better things to do than yell. That wasn’t happening. Breathing was much higher on the list. Whoever was carrying him, arm around Isaac’s middle, Isaac’s back to his chest, had his hand clamped over Isaac’s mouth and nose. Vampires surrounded him, dragging him deeper into the tunnels. He struggled and kicked, but it did no good, and he was dizzy from the lack of air.

  They’d come out of nowhere, like bats clinging to the rafters above everybody’s heads, swooping down on him the minute he’d climbed back into the main tunnel. A fist had yanked his head back, another had clamped over his mouth, and they’d flown.

  Like bats.

  Every good thought he’d ever had about vampires had disappeared until… he’d called for Rune.

  Anin’s real voice had echoed and bounced off the tunnel walls and then Isaac! had boomed in his head. So loud. His vampire. The good one like Zev and Jessa and Anin.

  These bastards, whoever they were, weren’t scaring his feelings out of him.

  He kicked again, and the guy’s finger crushed his flesh against his bones. It wrenched a scream from him. A dull, muffled scream.

  No use fighting.

  Rune would come get him. He knew that. He was brave. He’d discovered how to survive. Not as if he hadn’t been doing it for twenty-three years now.

  They burst from the tunnel into a cavernous space. Isaac’s eyes widened on the columns and buildings. The green light was brighter than any other place he’d seen. Broken columns littered the ground but others still stood. The cave walls were black in some places, white in others, structures built on terraces that soared above them. Underneath him was a jeweled thoroughfare, wide as any in a human city. Lights shone through windows in the buildings. The enormity of the place stunned him, and he fell still against the arm around his waist. Pomariah was more like the catacombs humans had made, but this…

  Gothic spires decorated the tallest building. The columns were half a city block in diameter and the far side of the city was miles away.

  Was he in Celestine? Or one of the other big cities like Majallena?

  The vampire holding him pushed him toward a cage on a cart. Other vampires, male, female, children gathered cautiously. “Get in it,” somebody said. The voice was familiar.

  Isaac twisted, trying to see the speaker.

  The vampire behind him pushed again. “Go on.”

  He didn’t want to get in the cage. What were they going to do with him? “You don’t need—”

  The fist to his belly doubled him over, the hand on his shoulder pushing him backwards. He fell and rolled onto his side, sawing at the air. Another vampire latched onto the back of his shirt and dragged him to the cart. After a feeble kick, he tumbled into the cage and sucked in a ragged breath. At least it wasn’t painfully small. He pushed himself upright, grimacing at the burning ache spreading through his gut. He rested his forehead against the thick wooden bars and took in another breath. It fucking hurt.

  “Assholes,” he muttered.

  “Us?” A face peered in at him.

  Isaac knew it. The vampire from the coffee shop in New Seaside. Jaan. He’d closed the place up and run after Justin’s failed attempt to kill the king. Jaan curled his lips from his fangs. “I spent years living among you and pretending to be Dinallah’s loyal subject. You disgust me. Look what you have done to Celestine.” He gestured around him. “We die here still, but soon… soon we will return it to its glory. You, however, will not see that day.” Jaan straightened. “Bring him.”

  The cart jerked forward. Another vampire pulled on a chain attached to the front. Wheels clack-clacked. Isaac leaned back against the bars. The boulevard cut through an area similar to a strip mall. Buildings lined it, some of them obviously eateries from the tables in front. Many of the buildings were boarded, but many others were busy. Vampires, sitting outside, paused in their games and conversations to watch him roll past.

  Protrusions of rock jutted from the ceiling and walls and forced them into a turn. The cavern sank deep into the earth, the lights dimming to a watery sea green.

  A building, gutted in parts, took on luminous shape against a distant wall. Lights danced below, colorful sparks rising into the air.

  The cart rocked to a stop. Isaac gripped the bars and stared across an expanse of lake, black and still as a mirror.

  “Senera Lake,” came a voice beside him. “You will continue on your journey with me. I am the light bearer. I remember you, Isaac Hart. You got away from me once, but not again. My name is Solomon Frenn, and I will be the one to kill you.”

  He smiled, his long fangs the color of spring leaves in the eerie light.

  The ache in Isaac’s stomach froze into a knot.

  Two other vampires came forward and opened the cage. They gave him no time to exit on his own. Hands grabbed his arms and legs and swung him like a sack in the air. He landed with an oomph on the bottom of the boat. The vampires jumped in after him.

  Hang on, hang on.

  Weren’t they going to a lot of trouble only to kill him?

  Rune!

  I’m coming.

  See. Just hang on.

  That was all he had to do. Curl into a ball on the bottom of the boat and give nobody any trouble.

  The rocking of the water lulle
d him a little, but the lake air bit. The boat was a paddle boat and moved quickly to the other shore. He gazed around and saw a pale wispy plant growing in random spots on the far rock face. Moon lace?

  Two other boats kept pace with them. As they neared the shoreline, Isaac studied the structure. It must have been beautiful once. The spires and crenellations were as thin and delicate as the wispy plants he’d seen a moment ago. The windows were tall and narrow. Some gleamed with glass insets, but most were empty. A castle, surely.

  They came to the dock, bouncing and rolling against the side.

  The vampires dragged Isaac out, this time not caging him, only holding him between them. He didn’t fight. It would be stupid and useless and would only make them laugh. He had to stay alive for as long as he could. That was his only goal. One that fluttered away like a wind-torn butterfly as soon as they dragged him up the steps of a veranda that stretched across the front of the castle. The sparks he’d noticed from the boat came from some kind of embers glowing in fire pits spaced across the veranda patio. No flames, only the sparks like imps in the air, but warm like a fire. The vampires who sat on the veranda watched him pass.

  A brighter green light shone off the far corner of the castle where people were milling about outside a tunnel.

  “Excavations.” Solomon Frenn drew them to a halt. “It was a portal not often used, but many of my people escaped through there, including the king’s household. It was the only honorable thing the treacherous prince did for us. We are opening it. Widening it. It is one of only a handful of portals not on any human maps. Imagine their surprise.” He flashed his fangs again.

  The vampires dragged Isaac on.